


Danny Phantom Unlimited Compenduim Volume 1

by MrDarkPhantom



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, Gen, Ghosts, Zombies, ghost-zombie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-14 10:32:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 54,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3407387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrDarkPhantom/pseuds/MrDarkPhantom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Here is the compendium of my fabulous Danny Phantom Unlimited fanfic, collecting volume/story arc 1 and 2 (The Day That Never Comes, and Sick Sad World)</p><p>The story takes place 2 years after Phantom Planet (2009) with a nearly 18 years old Danny who has lived a Tony Stark kind of life and has let his fame and constant victories get the best of him, whereas Technus secretly forms an alliance with some of his worst rouges in order to wage war on human world and the ghost zone.</p><p>In these story arcs, we see how Danny once again gets too cocky and pays the ultimate price in a battle with his old foes with brand new powers, nearly losing his ghost core and losing all control over his powers. Now with a broken heart and the city under siege, he must ally himself with an unknown shady figure who offers his help and unlimited resources so he can reach his true potential and fullfill his destiny as a hero, but who is this hand of providence? Who is behind the Millenium Foundation and what are their plans for the future?<br/>And all the while CLockwork allies himself with Dan in order to stomp an even worse fate from happening, the death of the universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> these first two parts are mostly basic, having only battles and little emotion, for the deeply emotional part of the story you can search Danny Phantom Phantoms of the Heart in deviantart of FF.net.  
> Also if you are over 13, you are old enough to see al the things hiere.

Danny Phantom Unlimited

 

Prologue one: Wicked Ways

Ghost Zone, Observant High Council's Prison.

No specific moment.

In the maximum security cell block of this prison, enclosed by a chrono-randomization barrier, that makes everything inside these walls out of sync with all time, the most evil ghost known is found locked down and chained with high tech full hands shackles that cover his entire hands in order to suppress his powers, sitting and waiting, deep in the darkest cell, softly enlightened by the dim light of his flaming hair.

\- We told you this was bound to happen sooner or later, Clockwork - said the two Observants.

\- I know, and you said that twice. I'd like to see him now.

\- We told you that he was your responsibility, Clockwork.

\- And this is the third time he escapes this month.

\- We had no choice but to lock him in a timeless cell to hide him from all time.

\- So now he has no place or moment to escape from his cell. - Explained the Observant

\- He already exists outside of time. He is an gray area when it comes to that matter. You two know that, don't you?

\- He is in the cell D - said one of them.

\- No pun intended - said his partner, completing his sentence as always.

\- It was just the only fire resistant cell we had.

\- And the only one with pillows on the walls.

\- He is a mass murderer, not schizophrenic.

\- That was for our guards protection, not his.

\- Understandable.

The metallic door of the cell is opened making an awful squeak, letting the outer light illuminate the cell, hurting Dan's eyes.

\- Your "parole" is here.

\- Oh, what a surprise - says Dan sarcastically.

\- A surprise indeed. Next time you escape, would you please use the door like a normal person or at least phase through the walls like a ghost. Money doesn't grow in threes and I'm pretty much paying the handyman's son college.

\- There are colleges in the ghost zone?

\- We'll leave you two alone, and this time, when you take him home, please make sure he stays in his room.

\- What am I going to do with you?

\- I don't know, daddy. I guess you could take my T.V., but I don't have any. That is the real crime here.

\- I'm being serious.

\- Me too. It's already bad enough I don't get to kill or maim, and you lock me in a room with no T.V.? What am I supposed to do then? At least the observants have that courtesy. But they need a new channels packet, because this one goes from MTV to MTV3.

\- Tell me, do you know why did I take you in and make myself responsible for you?

\- As a matter of fact, I do. Because you need me.

\- And why would think that?

\- Because I'm a man of power, and people like you wants to have that kind of power in their hands, leashed and under control. But the thing is you can't control the power - Dan states as he stood up, overloading the handcuffs with his ghost energy. - Ah, much better - says rubbing his hands. - Now tell me, was the shackle ball in my feet really necessary?

\- No, we just thought it would be fun.

\- The guard over there doesn't think the same way - He stated pointing at the ghost guard laying on the floor whose head was smashed in with the ball. - Actually he doesn't think anymore know that his brain is splattered all over the wall. He left an awful stain.

\- I can see that.

\- He'll never be the head of a major corporation - he laughed -. Tell me, why don't we go down to business? Ever since you locked me in that room I knew that there was something you wanted from me. I can tell the why but I just couldn't point out the what. And I'm guessing now is the best moment, isn't?

\- It is. What I want is very simple. I want your help.

\- Me, helping you? Hahahahahahahahaha… - Dan makes a pause in his laugh, to get his breathe back and keeps laughing at Clockwork - hahahahaha… You serious?

\- Yes, I am. You don't think you can help me?

\- Of course not, I'm a criminal. I'm a notorious liar and murderer. I am not worth of trust and I don't help others. What on earth could possess you to believe that you could ask for my help just like that and that I would give it to you out of the nonexistent kindness of my hearth without anything in return?

\- I know that you don't do anything that doesn't benefits you specially if it involves helping others. But believe me, this will greatly benefit us all.

\- And what's there to stop me from doing nothing? What's there that is supposed to benefit me?

\- This – Clockwork told him, taking Dan to the future. A future devoid of any life. Just an endless wasteland as far as the eye can see.

– What is this?

\- This is the future. Just a few years from now.

\- Looks shittier than my future. Whatever caused this, I'm already its fan.

\- Good, because I want you to kill it. I want you to destroy what caused this. I want you to fight future.

\- You want me to fight whoever did this? I'm not a hero, I'm the goddamn villain. I don't save the future. In fact, why don't you fight it yourself?

\- There are rules to it, Danny…

\- Don't you ever call me like that. Ever! - Dan yelled, anger bubbling as he heard his old name for the first time in years.

\- You see, while I cannot directly audit (unless strictly necessary) just like my annoying bosses - Clockwork explained oblivious to his anger -, I can always "ask" people to do my dirty work. To do all the things that need to be done and…

\- Ok, I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going… you want me to have sex with a hot wannabe empress of the world, right? Ok, I'll do it - Dan joked.

\- …That's not where this was going Clockwork replied, peeved at his interruption.

\- Then that leaves the boring option, so let me spell it out for you: you want me to be your private mercenary, to be your personal little hitman, am I right? - he asked quite assure he was.

\- Mercenary? Oh good, that's such an ugly word. I prefer the term… soldier by contract - he replied.

\- I see. And what am I supposed to "fight" for you? And most important, what's in there for me?

\- You might wanna put a hat on your head.

\- What?

Snapping his fingers, Clockwork shifted himself and Dan from Earth to the moon.

\- Wait, who blew out the candle? - asks Dan touching his "hairless" head. - Damn it, this is why I hate outer space, specially the moon.

\- You used to love it when you were a child.

\- Don't push your luck old man.

\- I know, I wasn't going to. Remember when you said that I needed your power? You were only half right. Now you see that thing floating next to earth? That giant monster with a head so big that only its eye alone is larger than earth? That's what I want you to kill - Clockwork told him as Dan glared at the creature with awe.

\- Ok, I see, I see… Are you out of your freaking mind? You want me to fight that thing? Are you insane? I mean I'm as bad as I come, but if I see that thing in my wall I'm moving the hell out there. Besides I don't have what it takes to fight it.

\- You think? If is power what you are worried about, worry no more, because I'm planning on giving you all the power you need to carry out my plans. That's what's in there for you. In fact, assuming everything goes according to my plans and we stop this creature, this… event, this future we're looking at is earth's best possible future.

\- Ha-ha. You said "ass".

\- Oh great, someone is been watching Beavis and Butt-head.

\- Hey, I told you they need new channels. But I wasn't worried about power. When I said I didn't have what it takes to do that, I meant I didn't have a reason to fight for. Now I do. But seriously, the best possible future? What is in your mind this time, Clockwork? I don't think you really want me to kill earth, do you?

\- No. I want you to remake the whole cosmos to your wicked image so when that thing comes into our universe to feed on it, it won't find a happy meal waiting for it. That's what I want from you. That's why I need you, the villain, not the hero.

\- Right… How stupid do you think I'm? Why don't you ask the hero to do that? If what you want is to save the universe…

\- You'll do it because you are a survivor. That's what you do, you survive.

\- And…?

\- Because to save the universe it has to be destroyed first - he replied with a sigh -. Something he would never do. And because power corrupts, and to stop this thing we need absolute power, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and you are already corrupted, which means you have nothing to lose.

\- Meaning, you're lying to me and that this is rather than dangerous, a suicide mission and I'm the perfect man because I have nothing to lose, am I right?

\- Once again, that's only half the truth. Of course is dangerous, the bloody universe is at stake here and in order to survive we need the god ones, the bad ones and the worst… you. Besides you have nothing to lose indeed, but everything to win.

\- If there is something I learned from school is that businesses are based in offer and demand, risk and reward and the risk must be the same as the reward. What's the other half of the truth?

\- My business - answered giving him a sly grin.

\- Wow, you are worse than a politician.

\- Do we have a deal?

\- …Oh what the hell, at least I made it on TV and I won't be having sex with Mandy.

Dan sighs before shaking Clockwork's hand. Their deal was made.

\- Congratulations boy, you got yourself a hitman, I mean… a soldier by contract - Dan teased.

\- Excellent – says Clockwork with a smile on his face. - Now prepare to fight the future, this private war of ours is not going to win itself. Oh, one more thing.

\- What?

\- This.

Dan bows down on his knees by the pain that abruptly runs through his body.

\- What have you done to me? – asks enraged, with his body steaming.

\- I took a little insurance in order to make sure you won't disobey me. It's an old trick known as bounding.

\- What?

\- In others words, you do as I say or you do as I say– states as a glowing green chain extends on Dan's hands and fades away. - Now move, we got plans to make.

Prologue two: What lurks in the shadows.

6 months after Phantom Planet

Fenton Works, 11:46 PM UTC

Danny flies sneaking into his room through the window.

\- Great, mom and dad are still sleeping, I capture a goddamn ghost zoo on the loose, spend the night with Sam (no pun intended) and I came back before my parents notice I was gone. If I start crapping nuggets of gold out my but my life would be perfect. - Morphing back into his human form, he throws off his t-shirt on his desk where he finds a brown envelope waiting for him. - What's this?

Danny opens the envelope and founds a screen within.

Immediately, it begins to scan him while it floats in front of him.

\- Ecto-signature confirmed. Subject: Daniel "Danny" Fenton A.K.A. Danny Phantom. - Says a computer voice coming from the screen.

Instinctively, Danny goes ghost.

\- Fuckityfuck!

\- Greetings Mr. Fenton – says a shady figure with red eyes, on the screen. Danny couldn't see who it was, but he was sure that the silhouette and voice were those of a man. - I am glad to see that this packet found you well.

\- Ah, thanks… I guess… Now, who are you supposed to be? A member of the Swollen Eyeball Network?

\- Why does everyone make that joke? No, I am not one of them. My name, to you, is Mr. M.

\- Right. And I thought Invis-o-bill was a stupid name.

\- Mr. Fenton… - Danny quickly interrupts him.

\- Danny.

\- What?

\- Call me Danny. Mr. Fenton is my father, who is sleeping and… oh, what do I worry about? He won't get up any time soon.

\- Ok… Daniel, I am here (to put it that way) in behalf of my associates to make you a business proposition.

\- What kind of business? Is it porn?

\- No…

\- 'Cuz I always thought it would be cool to be a porn star named "Stinger". Is a very dramatic pun. I would even a have a tattoo of a scorpion on my back.

\- Yes, ok…

\- Not those lame tattoos that are just lines, something more like a combination of the new school with realistic.

\- How nice. My partners and I are into more serious business.

\- Oh, I got it… You are into the S&M, aren't you?

\- No.

\- Look, I'm not judging, everyone has his own thing. Then what kind of business is that?

\- One you are familiar with. The ghost threats and saving the world business.

\- Saving the world?

\- Our world, Daniel.

\- Oh, really? And where were you and your fellas six months ago when the earth was about to be destroyed by a giant asteroid that for no specific reason had the shape of a skull?

\- Unfortunately, my partners and I in the New Millennium Foundation were useless against that threat. That's why I am here tonight to offer you a place with us, a place in our company, if we can call it that way.

\- Ok, why?

\- Because we both want the same thing, we want to save the world and together we can save it from threats we cannot stop in our own, we can make this world a better place, a safer place.

\- No, I mean, why would you think that I would join your group? I don't even know who you guys are.

\- Because as I said, we have a common goal, and the best way to get it is by working together. We cannot save the world without help, none of us can. We have our limitations, we all have, but if history has proven something is that when we humans work together for a common goal, there are no limits for what we can achieve. That is why I offer you my help, my assistance and resources, unlimited resources. With them, you will have no limitation of any kind and in return I expect you to have the same courtesy with us.

\- Yeah. Way too much talking and not really going anywhere…

\- Mr. Fenton, there is an invisible war going on right now, a secret war. Sides are being made, they are calling for the good ones, the bad ones and the worst. And this war is bound to reach our world sooner or later and when that happens the only way we can make it, is by having the strongest alliance. Please, help me to stop what is about to happen.

\- Sorry, I don't buy it. Hereby I respectfully decline your offer.

\- I believed you will have your doubts about this. The screen we are using to talk will give you a number. Please think this through. And if you are willing to accept my offer, just call the number on the card. But keep in mind that the time you have to think might be short.

\- Is that a threat?

\- Is a warning Daniel. You are the only hero that this world has, but you cannot save it on your own. Take my help and you could do amazing things, things you have never imagined and ensure the future of the world. Keep doing things alone, and you might just fail.

The screen turns off, and fades in a pair of green energy rings, leaving a holographic black card behind, with a number printed in green and the words Welcome to our New Millennium.

Prologue three: The ghastly gathering

Ghost Zone, Skulker's Island

August 14, 3:34 PM UTC

Skulker spies on Danny with a skull-like bug he planted in the Fenton house.

\- Soon ghost child, soon your head will be in my room of trophies - claims Skulker in lair watching Danny through one of his secret spy-cams.

\- You have said that plenty of times, my little friend.

\- Technus! How did you get in here?

\- Oh please. I'm Technus, master of all technological and glowing stuff. Your security system is nothing but a kids' play to me. Also, you gave me a backup key of your house, remember?

\- That was for emergencies only. What are you doing here?

\- I have a proposition for you.

\- A proposition? Oh my glob! This is so sudden. Are you gonna do the whole kneeing thing like an old school gentlemen? - asks sarcastically

\- Very funny.

\- Yeah, I thought that. But seriously, what do you want?

\- Tell me, what do you think about pack hunting?

\- I think… it could be interesting – states Skulker with a smile on his cyber armor's face.

And so, Technus began the gathering of his team. Some join him looking for vengeance without thinking it once…

\- So, what do you say Penny, would you join us?

\- Count me in.

Some followed him ruled by a code of honor…

Pariah's Keep.

\- Art thou aware that without my Soul Shredder I am half the ghost I was, right?

\- And what if, I Technus, master of all technological and metallic things, can make you a better one. A sword much stronger than your old sword, and make you more powerful than ever before.

\- Then count me in thy group.

Some just followed him to escape out of their misery and taste the power one more time.

\- …so you can choose whether if you stay here, rotting in the filth and mud, or join Technus, and know what power feels like once again. It's your choice.

\- And taking commands from someone other than me? Mayhap Aragon is down, but he will never crawl or knee before anyone!

\- If you join us, you can finally destroy the one who overthrown you and give a stage cup by yourself to get rid of the pretender that sits in your throne. Do we have a deal?

\- You got me in destroy.

And some just to bright and be listened one more time…

Ghost Zone, Down the Ghost Rabbit Hole Club.

1:45 AM UTC

\- I'm telling you Technus, this is a bad idea. Bad everywhere.

\- What's the matter? Just because you are as smooth as a Ken doesn't mean you can't enjoy a gentlemen's club.

\- This is a strip club.

\- It's just an euphemism.

\- I didn't even know we had such place in the ghost zone. So many nights wasted going to the earth looking for a place like this.

\- The biggest surprise here is that Terminatra actually has nipples and a pussy. I believed she was as smooth as a Barbie doll. But no she ain't no Barbie doll.

\- Wow. I wish more women could open their legs like that. But I still don't get it, what are we doing here?

\- Other than getting a ghost boner while we spent our money on women and wine. We are looking for someone, a key piece to the puzzle and maybe the most important member of our team, second to me of course.

\- Who?

\- Just wait. Yeah baby, make it rain, baby! Make it rain!

\- Ok, I'll wait… right about… there, in the Black Kitty room.

\- I wouldn't recommend that. Every man who sees her ends with bad luck. Hence, the black cat theme of the room, although is worth it for what I heard.

\- Or I could just stay here with you.

\- And now prepare to burn your money like you've never done it before, unless you've being here the whole month, for here she comes, the star of the evening, and the hottest girl in the whole ghost zone in the most literal sense. If you've seen her, you know she moves like sin, she can burn everything with her girly little touch, and she has done it twice this week, she can sing and once you listen to her voice and take a look at her hips you'll be hypnotized by her charm. Here comes Ember McLain!

\- You are surprised, aren't you?

\- Un-fucking-believable.

\- Not really. Half the wannabe singer girls end in a place like this when they follow their dreams and fail. She is lucky she is not working at The Enchanted Forest.

\- The Enchanted Forest? Who names these places? A monkey in a library?

Meanwhile, in the library of the ghost zone.

\- Hurry up, monkey! We have three more places to name.

Like you didn't see that coming at all.

And now back with Skulker and Technus.

\- Who cares? Now buck up!

You'll finally get to know what she looks like naked.

\- How do you-?

\- Like if is secret that you never did it when she was your girlfriend.

\- Right now, I hate you so much.

The lights of the club turn off leaving the place in total darkness. Soon, Ember's blue flaming hair manifests in the air, illuminating the place with its thin light.

As her whole body forms in stage, she begins to illuminate the place with the dim light of her fiery body, glowing and dancing without any other light than the one of her own body.

Dancing in the pole like an expert, she began to take off her clothe, first her pants and then her top, and wore nothing but a black bikini, her boots and her belt, and the more skin she revealed, the more she illuminated the place.

Soon she stared to take off her boots and had nothing but her belt and her bikini which she slowly…

You know what? This feels too needy. I'm just gonna skip to the part when they make the deal.

One hour later, in Ember's room, where she rests sweat and naked after a good show that you wish you could have seen, because yeah, the motherfucker show was so worth every fucking dime and every dollar in your pockets!…

\- Are you telling me that I can stop working in this wonderful place where I can low myself by rubbing my undead naked body in a pole in front of every ghost in the ghost zone for money just to low myself by picking up a fight with that dipstick? - asked sarcastically. - Stop looking at my beautiful teen tits and read my leaps you freak. FUCK YOU! No thanks. I already left that life behind, and I don't see anything in there for me.

Although sometimes, there are those who need just a little extra.

\- We have money - says Technus.

\- Thank you - cried happily hugging him.

\- All right, I got it. You are happy you get to quit this place - said tapping her back -, now back off. You're making this awkward.

And so, Technus gathered his team, and with his ghastly alliance he... You know what? I just can't, ok? I can't keep this arrogant narrative style, every word chosen meticulously, the main point here is clear: he has a team now.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

The Day That Never Comes, Part 1

Feels Like Failing

Fenton Works, the kitchen.

2 Years after Phantom Planet, Thursday 14, 3:23 PM UTC

_"I woke up hobbled, with a cold feeling in my stomach. Something cold and heavy, like an awful snowball pressing against my guts. I know that feeling. Is not my ghost sense, is my Danny sense. Something that tells me that this is gonna be one of those days where I regret I ever got out of bed._

_"The school was a total anguish, where I learned nothing but a few new words, namely anguish, hobbled and another one that means leisure or something like that, and between Dash being a dick, Tuck's lousy attempts of hitting on Star using his Mayor status and Sam out of town I decided I couldn't take it so I escaped and left a duplicate behind. And who would notice the difference? Once I went to Hawaii for a week and left a clone and neither my parents or my friends notice the difference, not even Sam, so I thought it would work this time too, and it did, after all he was gonna be with his head on the desk sleeping uncomfortable as I always do._

_"Once I got home I slept till Tucker knocked my door, and complained about me not taking him with me. He told me he noticed that it was a clone because because it actually paid more attention to class than I ever did. Luckily he is a politician and I got him to shut up with a ten dollar bill and a beer."_

\- Jazz! Where is my mom?

\- She's with dad.

\- And where is dad?

\- They're in Seattle. They left like a week ago. How come you didn't notice that?

\- Hello. Nobody expects me to notice anything. That's your job. Besides I once left to Hawaii for a month and none notice anything till you saw I was tan from one day to another.

_"Good thing about the Fenton house, no one sees anything."_

\- Right.

\- What are they doing there anyway?

\- They left for the whole month for a Ghost Hunting convention.

\- I thought dad was banned from those?

\- Only in seven states. There are still other forty three states where dad is allowed to walk without a tracer tied to his ankle.

\- Ok, and where are you going to so fancy?

\- I have a date.

\- Wait, you are having a date twice in a week? That's why you put on that ugly blouse with the golden happy face?

\- What's wrong with it? Is a nice top.

\- It sure is, sweetie.

\- Hey, don't condescend to me.

\- Anyway, after three seasons of seen you having no social life whatsoever, even worst, having a worst social life than I… I have to ask, who is this addict to punishment you are seeing?

\- He is not an addict to punishment… as far as I know, and that's none of your business.

\- Oh, so you can show concern about me and middle in my business but I can't do the same for you?

\- You are worried about me?

\- No, you're right. I just feel gossipy and wanted to know what happened.

\- Yeah, just what I thought. Now, I know this goes against pretty much everything you guys stand for - says looking at Tucker - but please don't do anything stupid while I'm gone.

\- What? Name one time we've done anything stupid while having no supervision of any kind?

\- Do you want the list in alphabetic order or chronological? Let's see…

Fenton Lab.

Four Years Ago.

\- C'mon Danny. Think of all the cool stuff there is in the other side of that portal - says Sam convincing Danny to walk into the ghost portal that gave him his powers.

\- Fine, but if anything happens to me, stay the hell away from my funeral.

Danny walks into the Fenton Portal pressing the "On" button and getting his ghost powers.

Six months ago

\- Yo, you know I can do this. I can definitely jump over the edge of this fence and pause, then jump back on my feet - states Tucker, doing said stunt.

\- That's a nice trick - says Danny - but I bet I can do that too - says jumping over the fence, slipping and hitting his head against the concrete.

\- I knew this was a bad a idea - claims Sam.

\- Then why didn't you say anything? - asks Danny squirming in pain.

\- I just didn't think you were stupid enough to do it or fail when doing it.

The Nasty Burger, Parking Lot.

Two Months Ago.

\- So all you gotta do is walk on each one of this parking post or whatever it name is as quick as you can and you'll get twenty bucks for each post you pass. - Says Danny explaining Tucker his new game.

Motivated for the money, Tucker walks on the posts but fails when stepping on the second post, smashing his balls against the iron post with all his weight.

\- How much money was that?

\- Well you didn't really make it to the second post and your other foot never truly left the first so… none.

The Mall, Parking Lot.

4 of July.

\- Ok, you put your foot the Cabelir - says Danny to Tucker - and you put your other foot in this Impala, excellent.

\- Ok, now what?

\- Now I light a rocket right into your but.

\- Oh - Wait! What?!

Firing a ghost ray from his fingertip, Danny lights a rocket straight into Tucker's but.

The rocket gets sucked in his but for about five seconds trying to get deeper while he squirms trying to get it out, until it explodes in his ass, burning his pants which he takes off immediately.

\- Sam, did you get that?

\- All in HD, sweetie.

\- Why did you that for?

\- That was for eating my yogurt, you fucker mother! That's right, I saw the tape, and did I said fucker mother instead of motherfucker?

\- Yes, you did.

Fenton Works.

This morning, just a few hours before going to school or… why should Danny and Tucker never quit, ditch, miss or get late to school.

Tucker is pulled in a shop car with a giant slinger on the Emergency Ops Center by a clone of Danny.

\- Can you explain me this again?

\- Simple. We'll use the Fenton Slinger to throw you on the air with the shop car. Once you're floating, my clone is going to grab you using his invisibility and take to the roof of the house in front to make it look like you flied all the way through with the slinger, and we get a thousand views in YouTube.

\- I don't think this plan was thought all the way through…

\- Ok. One, two, three, go!

\- Wait, I wasn't ready! - yells Tucker in the air, holding to the shop car which falls on Danny.

Tucker quickly gets up and runs as fast as he can trying to escape from the pain getting to Danny's doorstep, pulling out his pants and sitting in fetal position.

Back to the present.

\- Now, what do all these scenarios have in common?

\- They all happened either in a parking lot or this house - says Tucker. - Which actually means we shouldn't be here in the first place.

\- You were all alone, and you did stupid things, so as I said, don't do anything stupid - says leaving the kitchen.

\- You know what I don't understand? Why your first instinct was to take off your pants? In all my career as a superhero, when I'm in great physical pain, I've never thought to myself: "Ok, I know what's gonna make the pain go away. I'm gonna take off my pants and sit on fetal position."

\- Yeah, I was wondering the same thing.

\- And?

\- I haven't come up with an answer yet. Do you think she's finally got a boyfriend? - asks Tucker.

\- Hahaha, that sounded so stupid the second it came out of your mouth. Have you seen her Facebook page? Never gonna happen - says Danny grabbing two Fenton beers from the refrigerator for him and Tucker.

\- So, what do we do now?

\- Well, we can either watch my ghost dog lick his junk all day till he finally eats his balls or loses the taste for it, whatever comes first… or we can play Gods Among Us – says Danny tossing Tucker his beer, and taking a sip while watching Cujo lick his junk. - So, Injustice?

\- Injustice, yes please. But shouldn't you be training or something?

\- Ha! That is so cute. At this point, you still think I still need to train. I don't need to train to be awesome. Besides, you know my enemies are so pathetic that I can beat them with one hand and you guys always get my back.

\- Get your back? You wouldn't even call the team unless you are lost in the Ghost Zone or the Mall.

\- That only happened once and I got high with wrong medicine. And is not my fault I got so damn good at hunting ghosts that is not even cool 'cuz I can't even say it without sounding cocky anymore.

\- You just got lazy, and you know that this kind of stories in comics always end with the character learning that is not good to get cocky and lazy and get their ass handed to them real hard.

\- Thanks god this isn't a comic bock. Besides, I'm not cocky, I just said I sound like that, and I think I can allow myself some time for debauchery.

_"Debauchery. That's the other fancy word I learned today at a the two hours of school I had."_

\- You've been saying that for a month now.

\- Not truth, this is the first time I use the word debauchery - says taking a drink. - I just learned that today.

\- Fine, just don't get all bitchy when you get your ass handed to you and I say "I told you so".

\- You're starting to sound like my girlfriend.

\- Well somebody has to do that while Sam is gone.

\- She paid you to do that, didn't she?

\- Three hundred dollars and a baklava.

\- At least you ain't cheap.

\- Speaking of that, when is she coming back from camping with her parents?

\- She said she'll be here tomorrow for our anniversary or maybe she said next week? I don't know, I couldn't understand. It was raining or something - says taking another drink of his beer and laughing with Tucker for Sam's misfortune. Going camping with her parents and getting caught in an awful rainstorm was something that they never wished for her but they would laugh about for sure.

\- Well, I did warn them that this time of the year has awful storms - states Tucker walking upstairs.

\- Yes, you did. And they can't sue you for that. Be careful where you walk, I think Cujo's marking his territory down there - warns Danny floating up to his room.

\- You could have give me a lift, you know? - yells stepping on invisible dog crap.

Ghost Zone, Technus' House.

3:50 PM UTC

\- Technus, they're here - says Skulker stepping on Technus' lab.

\- Excellent. - States Technus, shutting down his computer screen with his chair-keyboard. - Take them to the armory.

\- Are you sure they're ready?

\- Ready? For what I want… they're just what I need - answers with a wide smile. - Now, get going. We must attack the city as soon as possible.

\- I'll see they're ready for the attack - says teleporting himself out of the lab.

\- Soon my friend, the world shall be at our knees.

Amity Park, Fenton Works

4:25 PM UTC

Danny beats Tucker's rebel armored Catman with his dictator Crimson Chin by the tenth time in a row.

\- See? What did I tell you. He might be the goddamn Catman, but he is no match Crimson Chin.

\- He is if he has prep.

\- Tuck, we've been through this plenty of times. There is not enough prep for Catman to beat Crimson Chin.

\- Ey, I read more comics than you.

\- Yet, I've read enough to know that that's just bad writing, and the Chintonite powered armor was the worst argument of all. The only one who is a match for him other than Nega-Chin is…

In that moment, Technus' symbol appears on Danny's TV. screen, interrupting his conversation with Tucker, followed by his face in a live broadcast.

\- Attention citizens of Amity Park. I, Technus, am sending this message straight to every computer or television screen, cellphone and any other way of communication to tell you that you have two options: either you willingly surrender the city to me and take me as your new ruler and overlord the good way, or you can send your pathetic hero in a vane attempt to stop the inevitable and watch him perish in the process. And since I know that you won't take the easy way, I'll tell you where you can find me. - A map of the city appears pointing his location at pier 36, all the other of the city. - You have an hour to answer. If you don't your city shall be destroyed. - Technus finishes his transmission leaving a countdown behind.

\- It is me or he just challenged you to a fight for the city on TV.?

\- Yeah - replied Danny with indifference.

\- Honestly I always thought that when something like this happened it would be a little bit more dramatic.

\- Yeah well, he is Technus. Everything that comes out of his mouth sounds stupid.

Danny grabs his Fenton Thermos and flies out of the windows.

\- All right, I'm going ghost!

\- Sure, I stay here behind in the sidelines as always. Call when you get tired for carrying your ego and me to give a ride.

\- Roger that.

\- Do you even have a plan of attack?

\- I always have a plan of attack.

\- And what is it?

\- Attack.

With that said, Danny flies at top speed at the meeting point where his enemy wait for him leaving a white wake of steam on his path.

4:34 PM UTC

Danny arrives at pier 36 with a strawberry milkshake from the Nasty Burger.

\- Ok Technus I'm here, show your ugly face so I can slap the green out of you - utters out loud taking a sip of his milkshake while a blue wisp of mist comes out of his nose. - Oh please; attacking me from behind? - says turning around and hitting Technus with a ghost ray with his free hand while finishing his drink. - C'mon Technus, you are better than that. Well, actually no, you are not.

\- I see you got my message and came here to fight me, just as I planned - says, floating up.

\- Really? That's your plan? Fight me? Then I guess this is the part when you gotta ask your self: "did I really think this plan all the way through?" Besides, you could have just texted me or send me a tweet, you know?

\- Perhaps, but I wanted the entire city to watch this moment. Smile for the cameras - says focusing the pier's security cameras on him.

Unexpectedly, Danny gets caught within a pink ghost shield where he gets surrounded by eight anti-ghost bombs with a ten seconds countdown.

\- Any last words?

\- Yes, why did you make bombs that look like park meters?

\- I told you they look like park meters - claims Skulker from the distance.

\- You shut your mouth, they don't!

\- Wait, who is that-?

The bombs explode before he could finish his question in a pink burst of ecto-energy.

The pink smoke clouds slowly dissipates exposing Danny inside a white force field of his own.

\- You used anti-ghost bombs so I can't phase through the explosion? Very tricky, I'll give you that - says Danny on his knees, recovering from the explosion and getting back on his feet. - But if that's all you got, then you have a big problem - preached manifesting his ghost tail.

But before he could move any further, Technus electrocutes him with a lightning bolt from his Lightning Rod.

\- Ah-ah-ah. Moving on that condition of yours is no good for your health, child.

\- What are you now? A doctor?

\- You should listen to him, even a broken clock is right twice a day, you dipstick.

\- Dipstick?

Danny's ghost sense goes on, and sees Ember appearing behind Technus in a blue blaze, with a new silver seven strings V-guitar, along with the Fright Knight who was wearing a new armor with bat design, a pumpkin belt, and a longer flaming cape that falls from his shoulders, with protrusions on them and pikes on the bottom, covering all his body, wielding a new long sword and shield that matches his armor design. Spectra in a new sexier and, somehow more frightening and ominous body with long black and dark blue gleaming flaming hair, almost touching her shoulders, wearing a side stripe, open back slit black dress with a smoky base and black stay-ups.

Skulker in a new cyber armor, taller than the old one, with feline and predatory traits, black and green scheme color, having a flesh look on the green parts, with black clawed lion paws for feet and clawed hands, a black and green skull for head with jagged and sharp teeth and pronounced canines, bursting into a very long and flowing green flaming hair that falls all the way down on his back, fusing with a slender backbone looking whip-tail, longer than his body, a green glowing skull on its chest as well as skull shaped shoulder pads and knee pads with fangs and pendulum blades protruding from his forearms and calves, wearing a vest made out of a ghost lion's skin and skinny ragged leather pants.

And Prince Aragon who had changed too, having a more muscular build and grown much taller; wearing a dragon-like armor with his amulet placed in the middle of his chest, wearing a ghastly ragged old cape.

_"As soon as the they show up, I got this strange feeling, like a knot in my stomach, something I could only describe as a cold thing right where my stomach should be. A cold feeling going through my whole body."_

-So, who is ready for some rock? – asks Ember, playing a very fast riff in her new guitar.

\- Six against one? Doesn't seem a fair fight… for you.

\- We'll see about that,- answers Technus - destroy him!

The Fright Knight sends a massive energy wave from his new Soul Shredder, created by Technus from the remains of his old blade, previously destroyed by Danny.

Instinctively, he splits his body in half letting the energy pass through unharmed.

Skulker tries to whack him as soon as he reforms his body.

\- Ok, I'll the first to admit that you look really cool in that armor - states Danny, dodging his blows with considerable difficulty.

\- Thanks, I asked for the premium pack to get the extra blades in my arms and legs.

\- Well congratulations, now you look like a shredder. I guess dressing up every morning must be an adventure now. Ruining your pants one leg at the time. But, do you really think you're gonna win just because you bought new clothes?

\- No, we are gonna win because now we are stronger than you and - Wait a minute?! Do we have to pay for these things?

\- What? No! Why would you-? Just kill the boy - yells Technus.

 _"There is that word again. "Boy". God, how I hate that word, they always call that like that. I hate people calling me that way. Just thinking of it makes me feel so angry_ …  _Even though it's been two years since I've saved the damn world, people still refers to me as a child, calling me things like wonder boy, or marvel kid. Even my own parents treat me like that._

 _"I'd usually ignore that but now… I feel a throat choking anger_ …  _I feel like I want to crush their throats. Boy, I am so not on the mood for that."_

\- I am not a boy! - yells Danny enraged, punching and blasting Skulker in the chest with a white ghost ray.

The attack leaves a deep dent and a big scorch in Skulker's armor, but as soon as it was damaged, it immediately began to repair itself.

What his eyes see, he could only describe it as if it was regenerating, healing itself.

\- Wow, your armor is… healing? - Asks Danny amazed for what he sees.

\- Impressive, eh? What you're looking at is a state-of-the-art organic technology armor with a built in regenerative healing factor.

\- I hate that thing… and I want one of those.

\- And I can do more than heal now. Much more - states shooting him with his new burning plasma cannon in his right arm.

Danny quickly flies at him avoiding his attack by phasing into the ground and reappears in front of Skulker breaking his cannon and punch him in the face, but as soon as he hits him, he moans in pain and realizes his hand was scorched.

\- You thought these flames were just prop? No, no. You touch it you get burned.

\- Wasn't that what happened when you were Ember's boyfriend? You dated a hot rock star chick and got burned? - Skulker gets mad at his comment and kicks him in the head, sending him inside a nearby warehouse.

\- Wow, this body… is amazing. It has so much power and strength… I never thought I could be this powerful - declares astonished by the power of his new armor, stirring the flames.

\- See, that's your problem. You are too hot headed now, you need to chill out. - Danny fires a cold energy blast from inside the warehouse, but Skulker uses his flaming hair to cover his armor in fire and repels his attack by bursting into a very large skull shaped green flame.

\- Wow… that was… wow… just awesome - admits Danny amazed by Skulker's new power as he walks out of the green flames. - You've been thinking on combustication lately?

\- I don't know about him, but I sure have been thinking of yours - states Ember unleashing a pink flare from her guitar.

Sensing her presence behind, he quickly turns around ducking her attack, firing a ghost ray.

Playing a different chord, she summons a burble-like blue ghost shield that revolves his ghost ray around her and redirects it back to him, with more power and blue instead of green.

Quickly, Danny phases down the floor, avoiding his own attack and assaults Skulker from below releasing a powerful streaming beam of energy with a single hand.

\- Ha, I bet you didn't see that coming?

_"Ha. Doing that always makes me feel better. Is just… satisfactory._

_"Unfortunately, that feeling leaves as soon as it comes. Then I feel it again, that cold thing in my stomach._

_"I feel how my chest is pierced by cold blades, how I began to lose the air and I can't get it back._

_"How I'm incapable of breathing. How a cold hand inside me holds my lounges._

_"I feel my throat choking… I feel pain as I've never felt before. But above everything, I feel… desperate… and miserable._

_"Is there when I realize who's behind me."_

Using her invisibility, Spectra stabs him in the back with her twelve inch long metal claws protruding from her nails, piercing his lounges.

\- I bet you didn't see that coming.

Spectra twists her left hand inside him breaking three of his ribs and collapsing his lounge.

Danny is overwhelmed by a pain like no other. So brutal that brings him to his knees.

As he falls he began writhing in pain, bleating and groaning on his own ghost blood, while Spectra sighs and moans, ravished by an orgasmic pleasure she hasn't felt in years, as she gashes his inside, feeding on his pain the same way she does with his misery with a red glow on her body.

\- Aaaaaaaaahhh… doing this to you feels so god! - yells stabbing him over and over collapsing his right lounge.

Incapable of breathing, in pain and despair, he thinks of something drastic to break free of Spectra's deadly grasp.

Phasing his hands through his chest he holds Spectra's hands and shocks her with a ghost stinger.

The attack affects them both, hurting their bodies. Immediately she takes off her hands from his body, allowing Danny to began to heal his wounds.

\- Oh, looks like you know how to play rough. I like that on a man. If only you were one.

_"If I could feel something other than pain… I'm sure I would be up set for that… But in retrospective, maybe zapping her from the inside of my own body won't make it to the top ten of my best ideas…_

_Which makes what I'm about to do even more stupid… or maybe less of it. So remember kids_ …  _if you have a serious internal bleeding and a collapsed lounge_ … _even if you have ghost healing, always go to the nearest hospital, because you won't heal fast enough to get your air back… and the alternative…_   _is an stupidity."_

With his hand still inside his chest, he cauterizes his inner wounds to stop the bleeding of his lounges to help his healing process, releasing a silent scream by the awful burn he gives himself.

\- It looks like somebody's being reading 50 Shades of Gray lately, like way too much. - Claims Ember with a wide smile on her face.

\- Like you didn't enjoy that.

\- Well, it was quite exiting for sure.

In a quick movement, Danny grabs Spectra's face and shocks her again with a ghost stinger and immediately fires a powerful plasma ray while still holding her face.

\- He's recovering way faster than I expected. - States Technus, watching the fight from above with the Fright Knight and Prince Aragon, glaring at Danny who throws Spectra at Ember who quickly disappears.

\- That could only mean your bodies are not causing the desired effect - points out Aragon.

\- Should we go in and…?

\- No. We stick to plan. You and the purple crusader stay here for overwatch while those hotheads weakening him, and then we take him. But just in case, Fright Knight, prepare to bring the nightmare.

\- Aye. - In a purple burst, the Fright knight disappears.

\- I'm confused. I thought this plan was a two ways plan.

\- It is. You just have to see the other way around.

\- Looks like you are not the only one who can heal fast - says Danny to Skulker, feeling cocky again, with his wound completely healed and unscratched.

\- I was wondering who can take the more damage before he can't heal anymore. Care to wager? - asks pulling out three green laser claws from his knuckles.

\- Bring it on! - yells Danny with his fists smoldering.

\- Fists against claws? It seem like I have the edge here - says Skulker dodging every single punch from Danny with ease.

\- Claw jokes. How original. Still, I still like my odds better - replies Danny barely dodging his blows.

\- You should quit it, child. I have all of your movements programed into my new armor. Which means I know all about your fighting style, all of your techniques and movements. Each one of your strategies and attacks I see them happening right before my eyes a trillion times, so fast, that I can see how it's going to end, and let me tell you… this is not gonna end well for you - states striking Danny in the chest. - And you know what the best part is?

\- That this is an awful prophecy dream? - answers in pain.

\- That this is just the top of the iceberg. And believe me, this a helluva iceberg.

\- A helluva iceberg indeed - states Technus. - Thanks to these new weapons and bodies created by me, I made us harder, better, faster, stronger.

\- I feel like I've heard that before in a song – states Danny.

\- Think that twice. We are now stronger than, faster than you, smarter than you but we are evil! - states Technus.

\- Evil? Really?. No way. You really have a thing to tell the obvious. Now, why don't you just yell me what you plan is so I can get this over quickly.

\- Plan? Our only plan is to beat you. Beat you like you've never been beaten before. Our plan is to defeat you.

\- Yeah, well, we'll see about that.

Holding Skulker's arm, Danny calls for a massive amount of energy, bursting in a repulsion field that sets him free and damages Skulker's armor.

\- If you were really smarter, you wouldn't waste your time in monologues when you could kill me - says taking high.

\- Soon! Take him down! And this time, I want him down for good - yells Technus.

Danny flies as far as he can, until he crashes with an invisible force field.

\- Ha. You thought we wouldn't foresee you trying to flee? – asks Skulker

\- What is this? – inquires Danny, sore.

\- It's a unilateral shield, codified to work only with your ghost signature.

\- What?

\- In simple terms, it means you can get in but you can't get out – explains Skulker, opening his right forearm into four sections, shooting a dozens of ghost missiles from it.

Danny phases through them, but as soon as he is tangible again, he gets struck by a pink lightning from Ember's guitar and a blue ghost ray from Spectra.

\- Not so cocky now, eh? – asks Ember.

Skulker pulls out his new anti-ghost missile launchers from his shoulders.

– Try to dodge this.

Danny eludes the barrage of anti-ghost missiles, but theses ones follow him wherever he goes, forcing him to create an ecto-shield, yet, he gets severely hurt in the explosion.

\- See? None of your old tricks will work now - states Skulker.

Spectra fires another blue plasma ray, while Skulker attacks him with a pink anti-ghost ray at the same time, creating a blue and pink explosion that knocks him out and turns him into human.

Rapidly, Spectra grabs his failing body and licks his wounded face with her thick snake tongue, waking him up.

\- Agh, why did you do that for? - asks disgusted while going ghost - That is downright, the most disgusting thing that has ever happened to me, and I was inside a phlegmatic elephant's nose, twice.

\- That's a lie.

\- No, it's not.

\- Let's be frank, sweetie. I'm sexy and I know that. I'm just hot. Way too hot for you! - yells turning her whole body into black fire, burning Danny with her touch.

\- Well, that is something I'm not going to argue with her - says Skulker to Ember who quickly gives him a dirty look, while still playing her guitar.

\- What? Girl, look at that body.

\- At least she has one.

\- Seems like a touch too much, doesn't it?

\- God-freaking-damn it hurts! It's like… bleach or something.

\- Yeah, baby. Now suffer. I want you to suffer like you've never suffered! And in case you couldn't listen to me over your screaming, I'll say that again, I want you to suffer!

Feeding on his pain, Spectra grows stronger than him, breaking his arms bare handed, and carving her nails deeper in his flesh.

\- Get off me, fuckface! - Danny attacks Spectra with a cold blast from his eyes making distance between them.

Moving hastily, Skulker hurls himself at Danny, sliding his left arm blade to his hand to slay his chest. He quickly avoids the attack, circling him and trying to hit him in the face, but getting his arm twisted instead. Danny tries an elbow strike to hit him in the face with his free arm, but he blocks the attack again, knowing his movement even before he did, and twisting this other arm too.

Danny harness his energy to strengthen himself and break free, irradiating green ghost energy from his body, but Skulker absorbs it through his hands to empower himself instead.

\- My ghost energy…! Are you…?

\- Absorbing it? Yes. I'm absorbing it, turning it into my own, and growing stronger than you.

\- I can't… I can't break free… - says struggling to free his arms, while getting weaker by the second.

\- Right now you are thinking of using your intangibility, but lem'me tell ya, it's not gonna work with me. Is hard phase when you have no ghost energy to do it - states predicting Danny's actions.

\- Yeah well, that's not my only trick.

\- Oh, I know. Now you're thinking on using your cold powers, but you're forgetting now I'm immune to them! - says blazing his hands and burning Danny's. - Now you are thinking about duplicating your form, and now you think of blasting me in the chest at blank-point range, but you are too weak for any of those tricks.

\- Well, if you can predict all of my movements and tricks, then I have have to use some others, and I'm sure there are some tricks sure you haven't seen before.

\- And what could that possibly be?

Danny turns his hands into ghost tails, escaping from Skulker.

\- What the-?

\- Look ma, no hands. Now here is something else you probably didn't know I can do - he claims farting a large streaming and stinky ghost ray from his butt on enemy's face.

\- My god! What the fucking hell is wrong with you?! - yells, covering his mouth and nose - You're rotting in the inside Fenton, you know that? Is that… did you eat a burrito before coming here?

\- No.

Twenty minutes before the battle or… Danny and Tucker's eating burrito competition.

\- Ha, I knew I'll finally beat - says Danny hardly swallowing half a burrito with the right hand while playing with the other.

\- You just eat half a burrito more than me.

\- Is more than I.

\- Whatever. Just wait a few hours for the venganza del burrito.

\- Looks like somebody's been paying attention during spanish class.

\- Nah, I got that from a movie.

Back to the present.

_"La venganza del burrito. And Sam thought that eating twice my weight on mexican food before a fight was gonna the death of me."_

\- I see no reason why should I stay in the line. I'm gonna go and slash his head off right now – states Aragon.

Pulling out his claws from his hands and feet, Aragon attacks Danny from behind, but he dodges him thanks to his ghost sense and reflexes, getting only a superficial wound on his back.

\- All right, enough is enough! - yells Danny, with his whole body covered in green ghost energy.

Taking a deep breathe, Danny uses his ghostly wail with power enough to destroy half the city of being there. Aragon transforms into his new dragon form, which looked more malevolent than his old form and somewhat metallic, with four arthropod-like mandibles on his mouth and a "X" hole on his chest with a great green dragon eye within, in order to withstand the attack, while Ember summons a burble ghost shield for her and Spectra.

\- Perfect – states Technus, watching the fight from the sidelines - just what I needed to hear.

\- Damn it Technus, aren't you gonna help, or what? This is your goddamn team and your goddamn plan. You should be doing something. - Claims Spectra.

\- Oh, but can't you see I already have, my excessively breasted friend? I was just waiting for my call.

\- Excessively breasted? You are the one who made my body and gave me these tits, you pervert.

\- I didn't see you complaining at all when I showed you your new body and you'll have nothing to complain about when I show you this.

A second before Danny uses his power for the second time, Technus activates his latest invention. Pressing a green button in the palm of his right hand, his invisible ghost shied turns blue.

In that moment, the air began to tar and breathing became heavy for Danny.

\- What the hell happened? –ask Danny confused, with a high-pitched voice. - Why do I sound like ghost Cosmo?

\- That would be my greatest invention of all. A machine that nulifies your greatest power, your Ghostly Wail - states Technus with the same squeak voice. - See even with this these new powers and bodies we have, we would have loss either way because of that ghostly wail of yours, so in order to defeat you, I had to limit your power by getting rid of it.

\- You did what?! How did you that?

\- You see that unilateral shield wasn't truly meant to hold you in here. It had a mayor purpose, it reduces the voice of whoever is inside to a single pitch making your power useless. I call it the "Perfect Pitch."

\- Wait a minute, are you saying that you could eliminate his ghostly wail since the beginning of the fight? Then why did you wait till this moment to do that? - asks Skulker, with his armor healing back from the first impact.

\- Because, if he did, I wouldn't be able to do this. - Changing her guitar's function and playing a different chord, Ember uses her own weaker, yet, very powerful version of Danny's ghostly wail on him.

\- Wow. Let me see if get this straight - says Danny behind a ghost shield. - So while your friends get hot new bodies, outfits and powers, you only get a new guitar to play covers of my ghost powers? - asks Danny sarcastically behind his shield that quickly breaks at the power of her attack. - You know, when I heard you started working as a stripper in the ghost zone, I thought your career hit the bottom and that was a low as you can get. Now I see I was wrong. Playing covers of my powers, that is as low as you can get.

Angry with his comment, Ember uses her ghostly wail one more time, with more power, pushing Danny against the ghost shield behind him.

\- Good, not so bad for a copycat. But while you may have taken my ghostly wail away, you are about to find out… that I am not an easy to limit man. Damn, with this Cosmo voice, that was less dramatic than I intended it to be.

Danny channels his ghost energy outside of him, forming a white aura as he crosses his arms in an X form, and fires an incredibly powerful white energy wave from his right hand, at Skulker, severely damaging his armor, and another one at Ember who quickly disappears in a blue blaze.

With cupped hands over his head, he concentrates his ghost energy to create a powerful white energy ball he uses against Aragon who shields himself with a red ghost ray from his wings hidden eyes.

\- You got eyes in your wings? That is so cool and so gross. Now you'll get to see your defeat better than your teammates

\- I got more than that - states while he exhales a gigantic purple flame.

Instinctively, he creates a cold energy wall with a hand gesture that withstands the attack till he gets assaulted from above by a purple flaming meteor made entirely of crystal, with a red flaming wicked smile and eyes, that burned him like no other fire ever did.

Confused, Danny gazed and saw before him a black winged horse, Fright was its rider and a hellish storm followed him.

A tornado made out of red ecto-energy starts spiraling around as the sky darkens above them and purple thunders began to beat upon the sky.

\- Damn it, I wish I could switch places with Sam right now. - States, seeing how The Fright Knight's ecto-storm grows in power and size every second, turning everything in the ducks into a nightmarish monster as purple lightning starts falling everywhere. - I got the feeling that I'm never gonna hear the end of it.

While distracted, Aragon assaults him from below so fast he was a barely visible black and red blur, with a new demonic looking hybrid transformation with dragon features in his face, including the mandibles, hands, feet, and his wings protruding from his arms. Wings so sharp he could use them as blades, cutting him in the stomach.

Danny covers his bleeding wound while with his left hand, while firing at will ghost rays at Aragon and the Fright Knight with the other, but this one uses his shield, which was designed by Technus to absorb almost endless amounts of energy and empower him with it while Aragon evades the effects with his new improved and impressive speed, aerial reflexes and agility.

\- Have you ever stare at the face of fear and seen that of the ones you hold most dear? - asks the Fright Knight, pointing at Danny with his shield, opening it to reveal a purple cat eye from which he fires a spinning purple energy wave.

Soon, Aragon attacks with a red dragon-like flame coming out of his mouth, while Spectra and Skulker fire a pink ghost ray and Ember an electric bubble from her guitar.

Rapidly, he freezes the dragon flame while barely dodging the other attacks by manipulating and stretching his body, with his wound almost healed, but he gets hit in the back by another purple meteor from the Fright Knight and then by a ghostly wail from Ember, getting caught inside the Fright Knight's ecto-storm.

\- Ooooh, this is not gonna end well - sates, seeing his dire situation surrounded by hundreds of monsters inside the tornado.

To be continued… right now.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

The Day That Never Comes, Part 2

What got lost in the storm

Inside the Fright Knight's ecto-tornado, Danny fights the duck objects that got struck by a lightning and turned into monsters.

\- Damn it. I gotta get out of here… - says kicking a monster forklift truck in the mouth, breaking its jaw and shattering it steel fangs, while inside a metallic container monster mouth, trapped by several black gooey tentacles.

\- How long until he gets out of that storm? - ask Ember.

\- I say ten minutes top with the last two included - states Skulker.

\- Don't think so. - States the Fright Knight. - Not with my monsters inside. He needs at least twenty.

\- Don't be so sure. We both know he is much tougher than that.

\- Yea, but not that though.

\- Wanna put money where your mouth is? - Skulker taking out a hundred.

\- I don't have a mouth. And yea, I accept your wager. - Says the Fright Knight taking out a hundred from his pockets.

\- Are you really going to bet on how long is going to take him to escape the tornado? - asks Spectra.

\- You gonna bitch, or you gonna join us? - asks Skulker.

\- Both. Two hundred that he gets out in fifteen from now.

In that moment, Danny senses something is off.

\- Why do I feel like somebody is betting on my life? - asks freezing the goo tentacles that hold him captive to break free and generating a repulsion field so intense, it blows the monster he was in, getting covered in pink ectoplasm.

\- Ha-ha. Well, this is going to be gas - states looking at the rest of the monsters flying inside the tornado waiting to kill him. - So who wants to be next? Don't worry, I don't bite.

Every creature inside began to roar, howl and squeal whilst coming at him.

Fifteen minutes later, Danny escapes the ecto-tornado, with his jumpsuit ragged and severely wounded, after defeating all the monsters inside.

\- See? Fifteen. Now pay me.

\- Well done, ghost brat. You just cost me a hundred dollars - claims Skulker while Spectra puts her money in her breast.

\- You were betting on my life? That's a new low I didn't expect you to get this quite soon.

With open arms, Danny concentrates his ecto-energy in each hand and thrust them forwards shooting out a streaming beam of white ecto-energy, but the Fright Knight summons a purple force field from his shield to protect his team.

\- You can create ghost shields with your shield? Now that's redundant.

\- Mayhap thy enemy hath made a superfluous weapon, yet, its functionality can't be argued as my power grows stronger and yours keep dwindling.

\- What?

\- It means you are getting weaker, you genius - explains Ember.

\- Oh, that. I'll show you how weak I'm - says turning his eyes completely green. - Believe me, I'm nowhere near close to getting tired yet.

Even though he seemed to be able to keep going, Danny was in fact growing weaker any second.

Rising his hands, he concentrates even more of his ghost energy on them and fires another streaming white ghost ray with even more power than before.

The Fright Knight's ecto-shield withstands the attack for a while but the ghost ray eventually breaks through followed by a white energy wave he repels with a purple energy wave from his sword.

\- Who is the weak now?

\- Still you - replies with his eyes blazing.

With Ember playing her guitar, the Fright Knight assaults Danny so he fast he can't react until he stands before with his new Soul Shredder, slaying his mid section, but his sword passes without stopping, like cutting through water.

Danny laughs at him, something he regrets the second he gets slammed in the face by the shield.

The Fright Knight opens his cape, unleashing a swarm of purple fire bats on Danny.

Instinctively, he creates a full dome ghost-shield and fills it with the coldest frost he can create to prevent any burn.

His instinct proves to be right and saves him from a scorching fate.

\- Oh great, I trapped my self in a giant snowball. Well done hero. Stupid instinct. Now what?

Amity Mall.

5:16 P.M. UTC

Jazz watches her younger brother's fight transmitted on the mall's new jumbo screen.

\- Oh my glob, Danny! - quickly, she takes out her phone to text Danny to know how he is. - Please Danny, be ok - says while watching her brother's enemies toy with him like a ball. - And who had the idea of putting a jumbo screen at the mall anyway? That's for stadiums.

\- Attention costumers. Due to the ghost menace in the city, we've being forced to perform a full lockdown with ecto-shields that works on humans too, so no one can get in or out. Please continue with your activities till you see an actual ghost.

\- Oh great. Just what I needed. Now I'm trapped here.

Danny's Giant Snowball

5:17 P.M. UTC

\- How great? They're using me as a soccer ball so hard that now I'm starting to hear a buzzing in my head. No wait, that's my phone. Good! For a second I thought I had a concussion - states checking his messages. - Ah, is Jazz. I knew this was going to happen.

Meanwhile, outside his snowball, Ember hits him using her guitar like baseball bat smashing his snowball against a warehouse.

\- Damn it, I'm fine. This ain't my worst beat up - replies Danny to his sister.

\- Well, guess who's texting during battle - claims Ember.

\- Yeah, that's what I do now, and just a second ago I tweeted: "I wish Ember was one of those celebrities that had a sex scandal with nude photos of her on the internet so I wouldn't have to pay to watch her in a strip club."

Without realizing, Danny actually hurts her feelings making her angrier than ever.

With her eyes glowing red and her hair blazing, she turns her it into an axe-guitar, bursting in red energy, releasing a huge ghost energy wave from the blades.

Summoning a ghost shield, he blocks the first wave which easily breaks through, and rapidly runs from the second wave.

\- Ok, hashtag certain fire girl just got burned. Hashtag she is not so thick skin - says Danny whilst running and avoiding her attacks and blasting the monsters in the pier. - And tweet! Hey somebody just asked me for your new place of employment! What should I say?

\- You are so fucking dead! - shouted enraged.

\- I don't think that's the answer he or she wants to hear.

Concentrating all her energy in her axe-guitar, Ember onslaughts him with power enough to break in half the ship behind Danny who promptly phases into the floor to avoid any harm.

\- Ember, don't waste your energy on futile attacks! Remember what you are supposed to play here - yelled Technus, scolding her.

\- You brought her here only to be the live soundtrack of the battle?

\- You'd be surprised to see how useful music can be to keep going on a battle - states using her ghostly wail on him.

\- Ok… I'll admit maybe is not such a good idea to make fun of you and… Hold on a second, I just got another text from my sis'. "Ain't my worst beat up? Are you trying to talk black in a text" My god, can you believe this? - he asks to his enemies showing them his phone.

\- That's it - yells Skulker from above, blasting the phone with his pink wrist laser. - Now stop playing games with us and fight us like a real man. And by fight I mean die.

\- I'm just seventeen, I'm not a man yet, I'm still a teenager. I'm like six months too young to vote or rolling in the army, let alone to die like a man. And, that was a two thousand dollar phone! Do you think I get those things for free just for showing my face on their commercials? Ah! Do you?

\- Well… yeah. You are a celebrity now. You saved the world. I always thought you got free stuff for that.

\- You know nothing about me or my personal life. Which makes the fact that you were completely right absolutely remarkable.

\- Hey, you heard that? I was right - says Skulker excited.

\- You know what you get for that? A blast in the face - says firing a powerful green plasma ray aimed to his face, which he ducks, and immediately teleports behind Skulker. - And this is for my phone - says attacking him in the back with a large ecto-energy ball.

The Fright Knight rushes forth from above but Danny swings and kicks him in the stomach with all his strength, releasing an energy wave from his foot to strengthen the impact, making him crash against Skulker.

\- Right in the mommy and daddy button - he cried.

\- Did you just say the mommy and daddy button?

\- I think FK and Skulker spend way too many time together - states Ember.

Aragon elongates his dragon arm and uses a red ghost stinger on Danny causing him great pain. Redirecting the energy going through his body to his hands, he uses Aragon's ghost stinger with his own against him with more power, but despite that, he remains unharmed.

\- You see that? My skin is to dry and thick to conduct electricity - explained with a wicked smile in his face, squeezing Danny with his white glowing hand.

\- Damn it, let me go! - screams struggling to break free of his overwhelming grasp. - Why is he…? He's too strong for me, and I can't go intangible either.

\- That's right. Now that I, Technus, have upgraded each one of my…

\- Dare to say lackey and you are dead - interrupts Ember with her eyes glowing red and hair bursting.

\- …associates, we are not only stronger than you, but we also have a countermeasure for each one of your ghost powers and each trick we've seen. Now you can't phase your way out of here and no matter how hard you fight, no matter if you wound us or how bad you do it, we shall rise neat and shiny.

\- Oh, is that so? Then I guess I'll have to come up with some tricks you haven't seen.

\- We'll see about that - states Aragon rising his left claw to maul Danny, but this one turns into blue mist, something he has never done before with any of his present foes, and escapes from his hand, letting Aragon cut to himself instead, who immediately shrieks like a girl.

\- Man, you just lost all the manly you had. You cut yourself and screamed like a little girl. No wonder why you have to kidnap girls to make them your girlfriends.

-  _"Density shifting. That's certainly an ability that I've never seen before on him… One that I have no countermeasure for. This might be a trouble for my plans."_  - Thinks Technus.

\- You shall pay for this! - roars breathing out a large streaming purple flare.

In a white flash of light, he disappears before the fire reaches him and reappears behind Aragon, duplicating his form four times.

_\- "He is a teleporter too? And here I thought after all our fights I new all of his powers and limitations by now. Ah well, I guess you never truly now someone. Now let's see what are you true limitations. What are you made of."_

Aragon gets blasted in the back, by a streaming white ghost ray from Danny and two of his clones while the other two freeze his mouth.

Opening his wings eyes, he blasts the two clones in front of him and then twists his eyes to the back of his wings to shoot the original Danny and his other clones, leaving him with his body steaming and sore.

Using his trident-point tail, he grabs Danny by the neck but he uses his mist form to escape again from him. Aragon repeatedly tries to grab him, only to see him escape using this power over and over.

\- I'd like to go in and help Aragon, but watch him try to grab that brat and fail over and over is just too darn funny - states Skulker. - Just like those old mouse and cat cartoons.

\- Share the feeling, mate - agreed the Fright Knight sympathizing with him, as well as his teammates.

\- You gotta realize that this is useless at some point, you know? - exclaims materializing behind Aragon and blasting him in the back of his head.

\- Aren't you going to help? - asks Aragon to his so called team.

\- No. You are doing a pretty great job putting yourself in ridiculous - answers the Fright Knight.

\- How long until it gets boring? - asks Ember.

\- I don't know. It has like ten minutes top.

Twelve minutes later.

\- Ok, this just got bore - states Skulker.

\- He is right, let's get this over with - says creating a giant ice gavel, he uses to pound Aragon on the head with all his strength, knocking him out. - Case dismissed. See, that's why in hammer we trust - claimed with a wide smile, leaning on his gavel. - I guess I judge you wrong. You may look tougher than before, but you are the wuss as always.

_"In that moment, my whole body shivers. I my ghost sense goes on and I feel it again. That cold thing right where my stomach should be, only but colder."_

Out of the bloom Spectra appears to kick him in the back with her sharp hill but before she gets him, he blocks her attack with another kick.

\- Nice try Spectra. You got me once, shame on you, you got me twice shame on me, or was it the other way around? Well, doesn't matter. I have a giant hammer and you don't.

Rising his ice gavel, he prepares to smash her, but this begins to melt the second it touches her black flaming hair.

\- Well, that's a bloody mess - he said disappointed, looking a the remaining handle of his gavel, throwing it over his shoulder. The handle hits Aragon's head, who was just starting to wake up. - Time for some good old fashioned energy fists.

With his eyes and fists glowing green, Danny tries to punch her, but Spectra easily dodges his blows with astonishing speed and reflexes, almost dancing around and slashing him with her claws. Every movement she made was like if she knew Danny's movements even before he did.

\- What's the matter, sweetie? You got problems with hitting a lady? - asks punching him in the face. - Because as you can see I don't.

\- You a lady? Yeah right.

\- Well, isn't that paragon? Doesn't matter. You can't hit me anyway. Because, like Skulker I have all of your movements programed into my new body, programed into my new EDNA.

\- Your Edna?

\- Is a shorter for Ecto-DNA, which is actually shorter for Ectoplasmic DNA, which is actually shorter for something that I'm not even gonna begin to try to pronounce - explains Ember, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

\- So I'm guessing that trying beat you in a hand-to-hand is useless then. No problem, all I gotta do is use the good old fashion freeze ray.

Danny uses his cold plasma rays to freeze Spectra like he did before, but this time she dodges every blast the same way she dodged his blows before, using her reflexes, speed and an equally astonishing agility she hasn't shown before, moving between his legs to get behind him.

\- Freeze me once, shame on me. Freeze me twice, shame on you - states jumping over him, avoiding a cold energy wave.

With every failed attack, he soon began to grow desperate and angry.

\- Seriously, what part of all your movements programed into my new DNA you don't understand? I know what you gonna do even before you do. Right now you going to shoot me with a plasma ray - says dodging the attack - now you are going to use your fists again - says moving around him, twisting his arm - and now you are going to use your freeze touch to freeze my hand - claims turning her hand into her acid black fire.

Spectra's touch melts his suit and slowly begins to burn Danny's arm making him squeal in great pain.

- _"My gosh. She is melting my arm and it fucking hurts. Ok, thinkthinkthink. Damn it's too much pain. I can't think. Use your instinct."_ \- Following his instinct, Danny yells louder and cries as she reaches his bone. - _"Ok my instinct didn't work. Stupid instinct! What else do you got?"_  - asks himself - Oh forget it, my instincts are useless. Time go back to basic - says shooting a streaming green ghost ray from his hands, forcing Spectra to let go Danny's arm free.

\- I knew you'll do that. Shoot me so I can let your arm go, but why didn't you turn into mist this time?

\- Why not?! I'll tell you why not! Because… I… well… you see, I… I don't have to explain myself to you! - raged unleashing a barrage of disk-shaped plasma rays, and missing every shoot.

Spectra moves with great speed, dodging his blast, going onward and upward, grabbing Danny's face and tossing him against the floor with her superior strength, creating a huge crater.

\- Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh… this feels so good… - yells satisfied with her whole body glowing red and getting even more muscular.

_"I don't know what I hate the most. Whether the fact that she is now stronger than I, or that she still looks incredibly hot even when she has more muscles than I do. And that really sheer dress doesn't help… Hmmm… maybe giving boners is part of her new set of powers."_

\- I'm glad at least one of us is having fun - exclaimed laying on the floor, trying to relocate his broken ribs.

\- Oh, I'm having the time of my life. Too bad yours is about to end.

Moving at full speed, she traps him in the floor with her flaming fingers enlarged, shaped almost as a cage.

\- Let me go, you wannabe cougar! - screamed creating two ice swords, slaying her palm.

\- Oh, another boy who likes to play with swords. Why am I not surprised? Always trying to see who has the biggest sword.

\- Should I be offended for that comment? - inquires the Fright Knight.

\- Don't worry. That's what she does - answers Skulker, showing up next to him. - She makes you feel bad about everything. That's her superpower, being a super bitch.

\- Well, if that's how you wanna play… - said shaping her hands into black flaming blades.

Instinctively, Danny slides back using his ecto-energy, barely avoiding the first blow and blocking the second blow, crossing both swords over his head, but Spectra cuts wide open his chest. Naturally, he tries to kick her but she dodges his attack, by gracefully swinging over him and slays his back, bring him to his knees.

Channeling her energy through her right hand-blade, she delivers a powerful blow he blocks with his ice sword which easily breaks for the impact.

_"I'm starting to think that I should have paid more attention to Zuko when he was using his swords, 'cuz I'm definitely not a Blue Spirit. If I were one I could cut her damn head off right now"._

Spectra avoids Danny's rageful blows with no strain and slashes him in the chest by the second time, leaving a huge "X" mark on his chest. The pain of her hand cutting him and her acid fire burning his skin delights Spectra, making her red eyes glow even more.

\- Oh, my boy, I'm really gonna miss you when you are gone. If only I could keep you as my private fount of youth, you my favorite cry baby - drawled Spectra with derision.

\- Shut the FUCK UP! - screamed sending a massive cold energy wave through his remaining sword. Spectra's new oven reflexes allows her to avoid the attack.

\- Looks who just got burned. Not so thick skin now, aren't ya?

\- SHUT UP! - shouts, onslaughting Ember with his freeze vision.

The Fright Knight stops his attack, by firing a purple plasma ray from his sword, to save Ember.

\- Maybe is about time we get this over with - he exclaims.

Out of the blue, Skulker attacks Danny, jumping in his back and spinning with an animalistic agility, so fast that not even his ghost sense could warn him.

Guys In White's Headquarters, Amity Park. I mean seriously, how many headquarters do they have and why would any other outside the city would be relevant to the history? God!

6:08 PM UTC

\- Agent M, sir. Maybe you and the agents J and K should see this - says an G.I.W. operative looking at Danny's battle on his computer, while the rest of the agents watch the streets cameras looking for any ghost in the city using the infrared spectrum.

\- What in the bloody hell is this? - asks Agent M, commander officer of the Guys in White.

\- If I ought to guess, I'd say is K losing our bet - says Agent J, who had a bet with his partner on whether if Danny would win this time or not.

\- Hold on, I think he is still moving. Yeah, he's getting back on the horse, literally.

\- Well, not anymore. That's one tough pony.

\- Could the two of you stop your childish games for once in your live and focus on the main problem at hand here? - scolded Agent M to J and K.

\- Yes sir. - Answer both prone, at the same time.

\- This is a human being we're talking about here, or… half of it, and he's caught fighting in a storm filled with monsters that could tear this place apart! Do you see where I'm going with this?

\- Are you asking us to go save him, sir?

\- No, that ship is sailed.

\- Then… what do you want us to do, sir?

\- Watch the big picture! - yells pressing the zoom out button of the screen. - See that ecto-tornado he's fighting in? Its lightning turned everything they struck into monsters, and if that thing gets to the city, then we'd be facing a catastrophic climatic event worst than the one Vortex caused last year, and not only that but also the entire city will be infested by ghostly monsters or even worst, it might turn the entire city into a giant monster, with all of its inhabitants as well, or at least those who won't get killed. The city's greatest threat is not the ghost but the storm they bring with them. Now you see the bigger picture?

\- Yes sir!

\- Great. Now prepare the tanks, jets, helicopters, invisibility suits and submarines. I want you two to evacuate the city and prepare for the worst. Prepare to take the city when they come, no matter how many operatives do we need out in the streets for that.

\- Eh, sir we don't have submarines. The government cancelled that project.

\- I know. When said submarines, I meant the sandwich, I'm damn hungry.

Back at the ducks.

Danny uselessly fights both, Skulker and Spectra, who easily dodge and block all of his attack with anticipation and beat him like a punching bag, while Ember keeps playing her guitar and Aragon breathes a purple flare around him.

\- Sir, the city has become plagued with their white knights and…

\- Lem'me guess, they're evacuating the city as fast as they can, aren't they?

\- Aye. How did you…?

\- Fright Knight, my boy. Don't you see this was part of my plan all along? I didn't come here just to fight him and take his life. I want to take something more important and for that I need to scare everyone away from the city. Now, I want you to go out there, take Nightmare and the storm with you and cause as much chaos, panic and havoc as you can. I want you to teach this city the meaning of the word fear.

\- Fear: noun, the feeling or condition of being afraid. I should know that, I'm the spirit of Halloween.

\- I didn't… Just go so stage two of my plan can proceed!

Obeying to his leader, the Fright Knight teleports over his black horse Nightmare and began to gallop in the sky, towards the city followed by his storm of nightmares, leaving a clone behind.

\- I don't know what's wrong with this minions, they just get dumber and dumber every year.

With Danny fighting over his life against two ridiculously empowered enemies whose power seems to have no limits and a duplicate, Technus' plan is set in motion just as he envisioned it would be. Having all the pieces in the right place, yanking the strings like a sinister puppeteer, he was now bound to achieve his goal and get his now long time wanted price.

\- I can't believe I'm saying this to the hottest woman I've ever seen but GET OFF ME! - yells Danny to Spectra who was on top of him, twisting and dislocating his arm, and enjoying the moment and pain.

\- I can't believe I'm saying this too but I'm glad ain't in your position - states Skulker. - Oh, take a look at that. Looks like Spooky took his little pony to the city.

\- Do you know what that means? - asks Spectra licking his ear. - Of course you do, you are a responsible kid. Responsible for their safety and well being.

\- You know is hard to think with a tongue in my ear, don't you? And I can't believe I said that too.

\- Don't put it on me, you have a hard time thinking, period. It means that your beloved city is going to be ravished by the worst of all storm. A nightmare storm and everyone and everything you ever knew and loved will be turned or devoured by monsters.

\- What?! No! - yelled Danny,crushed by the weight of Spectra's new body which has a higher density than the others she had and was really heavy - Agh, damn. How can you be so fucking heavy?


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:  
The Day That Never Comes, Part 3 Horses of War

  
Galloping through the clouds, he came into the city like a huge black shooting star with a purple stele of fire on his back, riding on a horned bat winged horse as black as night itself, with eyes as red as blood glowing by its thirst of it, and the most intense of all fires for mane and tail, exhaling a breathe just as hot, capable of melting the coldest of all hearts, scorching the sky on its wake with the pounding of its burning hoofs. What he came in was a horse as accursed as death. He came in the night, he came in Nightmare, the horror made flesh, but what followed him was much worst, as behind him there was the worst of all storms, one full of horrors, monsters and nightmares beyond the imagination of any human being. A storm made with his own power, a storm of fear.  
Flying relentless, he used it to turn the city asunder and burn those who felled within the sight of the dark rider.  
The Guys in White, the good but not great white hope of Amity Park, protectors of the city, used all their force to fight him and the storm back. They sent their best men to fight with the utmost of their might, making use of their advanced ghost-hunting technology. They took the streets with their tanks, making the ground tremble as they marched. They took the sky in their fastest jets, flying bikes, helicopters and invisibility suits, armors that made them equal to their enemies. They fell from the sky and struck like lighting, but they were bound to know soon that they were no equals, that there was no match for this power.  
With actual lightning striking every skyscraper turning them into monsters, they found themselves fighting the very own city they were ordered to protect.  
The entire city was now a sort of anachronism and apocalyptic nightmare with dragons and monsters with two or three mouths and heads fighting men flying in the air dressed like robots, today's white knights in shining armors -and such a shameful display of weakness- thought the Fright Knight to himself seeing how they uselessly struggled with this creatures.  
Wielding and swinging his smoldering blade above his head, he flied into the battlefield to show them what it meant to be a real knight, a true warrior, and the most important, to teach them fear.  
Throwing fiery rings of energy from his sword, to left and right but mostly left, he exploded and sliced their tanks in half. He jumped off his horse and with his strength that seemed godlike to mortal eyes, he smashed and destroyed every one of them, tossing them like if they were nothing, tearing them apart bare handed.  
Claiming the sky as his own, he flied with his cape wide open, looking as a giant purple flaming bat, and took down everything he saw in the air with his eyes and his sword in the middle of a purple flaming meteor shower.  
In just minutes the Fright Knight and the storm made chaos reign supreme on the city. But whereas he was an agent of chaos, the embodiment of fear and a warrior that lived for destruction, a warrior fighting an imaginary war to carry on the secret agenda of a mad man whose plans are yet unbeknownst to him, the G.I.W. agents were agents of order, and they were no quitters and were more than ready to fight on the streets, to fight with their own hands if needed, to take back the city.  
Some of the boldest -and some could say the dumbest- agents jumped in battle without giving it a second thought.  
\- Fire at will! - Yelled their captain.  
The agents blasted him with all they had, shooting him from all directions. Some from the air, flying with their invisibility suits, and others from the ground, but his shield absorbed the ecto-energy of their attacks and made him even stronger.  
\- Pound at will! - Shouted out, changing the strategy.  
Using anti-ghost night staffs, battle knives and even light swords, they strike as hard they could, and for a really brief moment he felt like he was finally fighting real warriors willing to fight with their own hands and strength and not with the power they get from their mobile metallic strongholds instead, and die with warm blood on their hands; but with all the energy he absorbed he was more than capable of handling them using nothing but his own hands.  
Holding nothing back, he strikes with no hesitation on his actions and no restrain on his strength, punching through their bodies, cutting them in half, breaking their jaws and even blowing and smashing their heads against the floor, and in little time countless of bodies of the Guys in White's agents were lying dead on his feet, while he stood victorious covered on their blood as this one ran still on the streets. For him, the merciless and ruthless warrior, embodiment of fear, spirit of Halloween, they opposed no real challenge and he quickly saw how wrong he was to think for a second otherwise, to think that they could ever be true warriors and offer a real fight or resistance even for their own city.  
Only those in their high tech armors could survive the deadly blow of his bloody fists to see him claim the victory.  
\- Fools! Isn't in this entire peasant’s town a single being who can stand against me in battle and offer me a challenge?! Isn't there anyone here worthy of my…?!  
\- A single being? - asked Agent K interrupting him, falling from the sky, wearing the newest invisibility suit model, a white sturdy armor with black glowing lines along the arms, legs and chest with three circular blue power sources forming a triangle on the chest, that flies using boosters located on the back, feet and hands, known as the Falling Edge -something he still hasn't mastered yet, as evidenced by his clumsy landing, even though he was using all boosters for more stability-.  
The suit, created using nano technology was the most advanced state of the art ghost-hunting armor ever created by the government designed to enhance the capabilities of the user to superhuman levels and grant them ghost powers as well. The armor was still a work in progress, a prototype that was yet to be fully tested, and for him there was no better way to prove it that in a real battle scenario.  
\- Why would you settle with one when you can have two of us? - asked Agent J landing next to him wearing the same white armor as his partner, only but using an skate looking glider to fly instead of the suit's boosters, landing gracefully unlike his clumsy partner. - Had a rough landing, ah?  
\- You shut your mouth.  
\- You look like one of those Tron characters - laughed J.  
\- You're wearing the same suit.  
-…You shut your mouth.  
\- You?! You don't stand a chance! - Replied pointing at them, making a denial gesture with his right hand, with some derision on his voice, almost laughing at them.  
J and K blasted him both in the face with the G.I.W.'s distinctive blue ecto-energy blast using their armor's right gauntlet.  
The Fright Knight quickly arose in a rage onslaughting them with a fiery energy wave from his sword that poured abroad like a fire that sweeps the whole earth before it, dancing and making the ground tremble as it leaves a melted path on its wake.  
Thanks to their suit enhanced reflexes, the two agents were capable of avoiding his attack.  
Flying in circle over his head like a pair of white vultures looking for a corpse to pray on, they fired again their blue plasma rays using both hands, making use of all their new fire power. This power could easily destroy the molecular bonds that bind the very ectoplasmic matter of a ghost together, reduce the resulting particulate chaos to tears and send them into oblivion, but this was no mere ghost. This was the spirit of Halloween, the Fright Knight himself, herald to the king of all ghosts. One of the most evil and powerful ghost ever known and like the Guys in White, he was also geared up with the most sophisticated technology of all, disguised in the humble, though elaborated form of a sword and shield. Feeling nothing but a hot nuisance he knocked them with his ghost ray vision.  
Summoning a blue ecto-energy sword from the top of his right hand, K attacks him trying to cut his head but the Fright Knight was far more dexterous with the sword and easily twists his arm crossing the energy sword and his Soul Shredder like scissor on his neck.  
\- This is not quite the result you expected, is it fool?  
\- Actually it is.  
Using the central power source of the armor as a plasma cannon and the blaster of his left hand he shot him at blank-range point.  
\- You used the Uni-Ray? That was a risky movement. That takes more than 50% of your energy and it still has plenty of bugs.  
\- You can bug me all you want when we're done here.  
\- Mayhap I judge ye wrong. Mayhap thy blacksmith gave thee a more powerful armor than the one thy mates had - said while getting up pointing at his war casualties. - But judging by thy mate's voice not so much. Tell me, how long until it falls apart in the middle of the battle for the excise use of your "plasma rays"? How long until the power runs out and it leaves you vulnerable and helpless like the humans ye art, before that which you fear and can't understand?  
\- See, I told you he speaks with thee and that stuff. Pay me.  
\- Shut up! - Yelled to his partner - How do you know about that flaw? That information is utmost confidential.  
\- Isn't obvious? I am the ghost of fear and right now that is what scares thee the most. That your armor fails thee the middle of a battle.  
\- Maybe, but we don't fear this will fail us.  
From their shoulders came out small missile launchers firing a dozen of missiles each one, capable of causing great damage to a tank.  
\- Let's see how well he can take that.  
The smoke quickly dissipates by strong wind of the storm revealing the Fright Knight behind a purple ghost shield standing unharmed and unscratched, and even though he didn't have a mouth, they could tell he was smiling and laughing in the inside.  
\- Is that all you got? - asked stepping out of his ghost shield.  
\- No. We also have this - they said pulling out machine guns from their forearms and shoulders with long ammunitions belts to each one, retractable battle blades in their left forearms and a small elongating ecto-chainsaw in the other.  
\- Well this is going to be gas. Or at least for the minutes it will last.  
\- Think again. We're two and we're armed with six anti-ghost machine guns each one of us with as much bullets as hair we had in high school.  
\- You had to tell him that?  
\- What? We did have a lot of hair back in school. Now I know you probably are familiar with the concept of firearms so I'm gonna put it to you simple, what you did to our partners we're gonna do it to you a thousand folds.  
\- I believe there is a misunderstanding. Thou think I am alone. But there is nothing farther from the truth than, since as thou might remember I never walked alone in the city - said with open arms showing his legion of monsters, made out of almost any object and person in the city and his ecto-storm behind him.  
\- I think that this requires the White Board protocol, don't you think K? - asked J.  
\- I just got word from the H.Q. We can proceed… with extreme prejudice.  
\- I believe that people now says, bring it on! - he yelled, letting his creatures break loose upon his challengers.  
They glared at each other with determination and nodded at the same time pulling out two retractable plates behind their helmets face-visor, forming a face mask and lowering a black battle mask with black visors outlined white, from the top of their heads and started shooting everything they saw, everything that flied, everything that wasn't human.  
They filled with anti-ghost lead every monster that came at them. They sawed them in half and tear them apart with their insane new firepower shooting and killing them with no remorse, and made the blood of the monsters rain as they brought the pain, and in minutes what was briefly a proud and dreadful legion of thousands of monsters dwindled and became hundred and then just a few dozen of them.  
With their shoulders missile launchers they blew those monsters away from their machine guns shooting range, those that were two big for their bullets to kill or even maim, with their saws they sawed the heads of those that ran or crawled at them and ripped them off.  
Impressed was the Fright Knight to see the darkest and wildest side of those bright and insanely organized white knights and the mayhem they were capable of when push just a little too far over the edge, to see their bright white armor stained with the multicolored blood of his legion.  
The Guys in White finally seemed to be a real challenge worthy of his power, but they had yet one more challenge to beat to fight him.  
\- Impressive. Thou art most impressive indeed. I heard thou art the most pathetic warriors this world hath to offer, and when facing thy mates I was sure of that - said pointing at his casualties -, but then thou showed up and quickly changed my mind. Methinks… I will finally use my new sword as 'twas intended to be.  
Moving his sword, he summoned a lighting from his storm but they threw their cubic ghost shield generators just in time.  
The Fright Knight kept moving and shaking his Soul Shredder in the air, as a baton creating a sinister symphony of lightings and thunders, beating the ghost shield until it finally yielded.  
As soon as the shield was broken, they fled abreast as flies from a table, but the Fright Knight kept waving his sword and shield, playing his frightful melody, chasing them no matter where they go and creating more monsters with every lighting that didn't hit them.  
They tried to escape from them but the swarm of monsters was relentless in their pursuit.  
Harpies made out of the carcasses of their fallen mates jumped on J breaking his glider. Using his chainsaw, he sawed them in half while he tried to take fly with the suit boosters, whilst, K fired every missile in his armor -arms, shoulders, wrist, legs and knees- and destroyed the rest that followed him and his mate with his machine guns.  
Looking for an end to the monsters rain, they blasted the hand of the Fright Knight so he would lose his sword.  
Without his sword he couldn't make monsters anymore but the ecto-storm remained.  
They cornered him, J pointing to his head from behind and K pointing to his face.  
\- I believe this is the part where I should give up, isn't that what ye hope? - He asked with his hands in the air.  
\- No, this is the part when we kill you - replied K.  
\- Then hit me thy best shot.  
They squeezed their fists to shoot him the head, ignoring that in their running and killing of his monsters, they used all of their ecto-bullets, running out ammunition, and instead of listening to the bang-bang of their machine guns, they heard the metallic click of an empty gun.  
\- Alas! Ye told me that ye shall dost to me the same thing I didst to thy mates only but a thousand times, but ye used all thy bullets in a thousand monsters, meaning ye have no left for me.  
\- What?  
\- Don't you got it? I fooled you! Ye think just because I come from a distant past I am a stranger to your weapons? I know that this machine guns have only a limited number of bullets. I have spent the last years learning everything on this weapons of yours with Skulker and Technus, and I learned quite some stuff.  
In a very fast movement, he bent lifting K's arm, moving his head away from J's hands, kicked him in the chest and threw him at his partner, grabbing his neck with his leg.  
A computer voice and a heads-up display appears in J's visor warning him about the serious damage to the core of his armor.  
\- Except for that. That I learned a long time ago, along with some other stuff, like how to catch someone's bluff.  
He jumped sky high in a purple flame, channeling his ghost energy through his fist to deliver a deadly blow, but creates a huge crater on the floor instead, as his opponents phase through it.  
\- I bet you didn't know we can do that, did you? - asked K showing up from behind.  
\- I have had enough of wagers today - answered while using his ghost ray vision, but hitting a reflecting blue ghost shield.  
\- You known, just because we don't have any bullets, doesn't mean we are helpless.  
Using their hands, they fired a powerful beam of ecto-energy he deflects with his shield.  
In that moment, he disappeared just a second before they fired again.  
Rapidly, they turned on their infrared vision to look for the Fright Knight and a big red and white fist appears before them punching them into the storm.  
\- That should do it. - Said the Fright Knight to himself calling for his sword.  
Using a communication device integrated into his new helmet, he contacts Technus to report his status.  
\- Master, is time for stage two of the plan to be set in motion.  
\- You sure about that?  
\- More than sure. - Stated looking at the reinforcements sent to fight him. Namely, all the agents that took care of putting the inhabitants of Amity Park in the underground refuges and those who waited in the headquarters as a reservoir.  
\- Congratulations J. You got us inside a tornado again.  
\- Me? How is that my fault?  
\- Don't try to convince me otherwise. Any idea how to get out of here? I'm only 40% here and my Ecto-Reactor is damaged. I can't fly out of here.  
\- It wouldn't work either. The storm is too strong and the suit's jets are not that good. We have to blow it. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  
\- White Whale?  
\- White Whale.  
Their idea was too dangerous and they could hardly survive even if their armor was perfect, but still it was the best plan they had and there was no time for another plan, so they released their second most powerful explosive, created only for open sea, from their thighs compartment.  
\- J, if we don't make it, I want you to know…  
\- Yes?  
\- That I slept with your sister in our night prom.  
\- You did what?! - Yelled as hard as he could out of rage, surprise and indignation, but his yelling was lost in a blue bright explosion that destroyed the storm.  
\- It is time - he said, gazing at the destruction of is storm.  
\- Then you know what to do.  
The ghost hunting army attacked with all its power and made rain plasma rays upon him.  
He stood fearless of what was coming at him rising his shield to absorb all the energy they fired at him, and attacking them back with an overwhelming energy wave from his sword that instantly knocked them out and damaged their vehicles. The power he had absorbed was too much even for him to handle at this point, and could feel his body on fire, but keeping it for himself was not on Technus' plan.  
Sucking the shield on the ground he traps the city under a giant blue ghost dome created with all the energy he absorbed.  
Everything was going according to Technus' plan, which raised up the question in his mind, what was his plan? What was the purpose of this skirmish? And most important, if their goal was to destroy Danny Phantom, why the erection of this dome?  
He knew the plan had two ways, but with his mission was done, the next movement was for him and the rest of his team a secret since for the first time, Technus didn't yell his plan. Was there something he wanted inside the city, or was it something he wanted out?  
These questions and more wandered in his head, but he had no time to find an answer of his own since his two opponents returned for a second round.  
With their armors severely damaged by the explosion and their energy levels almost dead, they could easily die in battle, but they were willing to fight no matter what, not for an archaic noble sense of duty or love for the city, not even because it was the right thing to do, no. The reason why they were so bent on fight him to death was merely out of hate for ghosts.  
The Fright Knight was shocked, impressed and another word that means surprised, to see them still standing.  
\- I knew it was a good idea to save this suits for a rainy day. - Said J.  
\- Agree. And know that your storm is gone, there are no more monsters maker lightings.  
\- I see… You think that just because my ecto-storm is gone, I can no longer… bring the thunder?! - he asked, moving so fast that they could only see him when he was right before them, swinging his sword, creating and striking them with a powerful lightning.  
The strike of his sword dents the armor, and in blow of good luck, the ghost lightning from his sword recharged their suit power source back to optimal levels, and even more; they had more energy than they could use, and they would need it.  
\- Battery at 400% - said a computer voice in their armors.  
\- …How 'bout that? - exclaimed K.  
With this new boost, they blasted him with everything they had. They used their gauntlets blasters, their wrist cannons, and the most powerful weapon in their suit, the Tri-Plasma Ray, a beam of energy made with their three powersouces, forming a triangle shaped blast.  
This combined and empowered attack brought the proud and strong knight to his knees.  
Incapable of moving, he passes into the ground and releases a swarm of purple fire bats from behind that exploded at touch.  
In the middle of that chaos, J shares his thoughts with his partner.  
\- This whole operation doesn't make sense.  
\- What do you mean?  
\- If they want to destroy Danny Phantom, then why is he here? Why did he bring his storm to the city instead of using it against him? This power alone is almost a match for him.  
\- And based on what we saw a while ago, they're all a match for him now. Together they could kill him - said blasting the bats around him.  
\- Maybe they can't, not just yet.  
\- Then why are they here?  
\- I don't know. To maim him, to maim the city, or maybe to buy time.  
\- Time for what?  
\- That, we will find out right now.  
Blasting the ground at the same time, they generate a repulsion field eliminating the bats and began to assail him with their ghost gloves.  
The superior strength of their armor should have given them the upper hand in melee combat with a pressing strength of 95 tons, slightly over the Fright Knight by just a few tons, but the sturdy design of the armor made it heavy, slow and hard to move with, special in close combat. He quickly realized that, and uses his superior speed and agility to his advantage, dodging some of their blows with ease, using techniques from the old days to grasp K's neck. This nearness was exactly what he was looking for.  
Grasping the chest plating armor of the Fright Knight he fires a powerful plasma ray at the same time his partner does from behind.  
Their tactic worked, and left the Fright Knight defeated.  
\- If we had done this since the beginning we, we would have save a lot of bullets.  
\- Looks like you failed, now start talking. What are you doing here? What are you expecting to get from this?  
\- I seek nothing but the destruction of that who dishonored me.  
\- Then why are you here destroying the city? Why aren't you using your power to fight him?  
\- I asked the same thing to myself and after some thinking, I realized that the worst disgrace for a hero who gives his life protect his town is to live to watch that same place burn, incapable of stop it. And in that I succeed.  
The two agents take a look at the city, and just like he said it was burning. Amity Park had lived its darkest hour and Danny Phantom couldn't help it, but how could he? He couldn't even help himself, he grew comfortable in the laps of luxury, he became arrogant, proud and cocky. With every successful battle he had, he blinded himself with the notion that he was already at his peak, that he was invincible, not knowing that he was building his own defeat and now he will pay for his arrogance.  
\- That's it, I'm gonna kill him - said K.  
\- How could you? I was already gone… a long time ago - said the Fright Knight banishing in the air.  
\- He is a duplicate! - yelled J.  
Since the moment he raised his dome, he left to fight Danny with his teammates, leaving a duplicate behind.  
\- Noooo! They're gonna take this out of our checks - cried K.  
\- So, I guess he made the fight a rain check. Got it? Rain check. Cause it was raining and…  
\- Shut up.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:  
  
The Day That Never Comes, Part 4 Breaking the habit  
  
"I open my eyes in total darkness. My whole self surrounded by water. I'm going with a sinking feeling. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, I was being drawn.  
  
"I project light from my hands and got myself scared shitless when I saw Aragon's new dragon face so close, holding me down the water. His new dragon face was definitely most terrifying and malevolent, and that scare was the shake up I needed to finally wake up my brain…"  
  
Floating down, Danny calls for all his strength to push himself back up, taking Aragon with him, blasting his eyes in the process.  
  
He emerges from the water, holding Aragon by his tail, forcing his body to swing his oh-so-heavy body around and toss him to the ground.  
  
His hands oozing ectoplasm by touching Aragon's hard-as-steel and sharp scales and his chest wounded by his claws. He quickly began to heal, but not as fast as they used to.  
  
His muscles in pain, pushed over the limit, running out of energy… "If only I could rest" he thought, something he never did; his body was tired, barely capable of maintaining his ghost form. But when did he cross that line? Was it when he got out of the water using the energy he got left or was it earlier fighting this new lethal couple? Was it for all the energy Skulker stole from him or for all the energy he used against them? He didn't know, and at this point he couldn't care any less since it wouldn't make any difference. All he knew is that he had to keep fighting, he had to fight till bitter end, even if the odds were against him, especially when the odds are against him. He knew he had to keep fighting, to keep throwing punches even if he was pushed against the ropes, he knew that's what he had to do.  
  
But how could he fight enemies that seemed completely new to him? Enemies literally rebuilt from scratch, with a power like they have never had without his most powerful weapon?  
  
\- "If only I had my ghostly wail, I'd be done by now" - he thought breathing heavily. But he didn't have it with him anymore, all he had left was his broken fists and a sheer concentrated power of will, and at the end of the day that was all he ever needed to defeat his enemies, and luckily he still had juice enough to push it just a little bit longer, just not enough to defeat them. For that he needed more fuel, more power and he knew exactly how to get it.  
  
\- You just don't know when to give up, do you? That's how I like it that's why I've been hunting you for years. That's where you and I are the same - Skulker said with a smile on his face, pulling out all of his sixteen claws.  
  
\- No, you're wrong. That's where we're different. You don't know when to give up, I don't know how.  
  
Danny flied as fast as he could and spun around him on the overheated floor. A few days ago, a ghost ray to his head this close, would end the fight, but now that would only make him stronger, and fighting hand-to-hand wasn't an option since he knew all his movements. The solution was to use different movements, but what movements? He was never trained in combat. Is there where he remembers his fighting lessons with his mother, short after she knew his secret identity. Most specifically, the one lesson they had where she twisted his arm and submit him to the ground. Only that lesson they had and no more since he never thought he would need fighting lessons after two years of hunting ghosts on his own and was glad that his mother wasn't there to see how wrong he was now.  
  
Using the same techniques he takes him down twisting his arm, and stepping on his head freezing his feet. The unknown and unexpected movement takes Skulker and his prediction program by surprise.  
  
\- Ha! I bet that you didn't see that end result - asked twisting his arm and stomping his head.  
  
\- No, I didn't - said surprised and angry. - Just like you didn't see this - claimed twisting his tail around his neck and beating him on the ground.  
  
"I felt the unmistakable crunch of nose cartilage and the brain stinging tingling of it regenerating as soon as it breaks, my skull pounding the floor, my eyes almost popping out. I felt my teeth breaking and getting loose, my shoulders getting out of place, and the wind getting out of my chest… I felt myself being lift and the air in my face, then everything goes black and green… hot black and burning green.  
  
"Everything was going according to my plan and as I expected, none of them would expect my actions to be that I would let them hurt me on purpose. Now if everything goes right, I'll get the fuel I need to burn more energy and make it out of here alive…  
  
\- You gave a fine battle, my boy - Spectra said holding me with her corrosive hands. Her hot breathe on my face. My nostril burning, burning a lot, making angry.  
  
"It took me a while to figure out how her power works, or at least to have an idea and if my theory is right, the closer we're are the worst she'll make feel.  
  
\- Now die knowing that you couldn't live out to people's expectations.  
  
"Is not the words she says, but how she says them. Her breathe is what makes me feel this way, like there is no tomorrow, no hope, like I don't know what I'm doing, just a kid in a costume playing superhero; but most important what makes me feel angry, what makes me feel hate and that's just what I need right know, I need hate, I need not to know what I'm doing, because if I fight having no idea of I'm doing, they can't know how to fight me. I'll be unpredictable."  
  
Spectra rises her hand to stab Danny's hearth and the most unpredictable thing happens. Grabbing her head, he kisses Spectra in the mouth. He kisses her like he has never kissed anyone before, not even Sam, getting his tongue inside her mouth, as deep as he can, squirreling it with hers, and sucking all the air out of her mouth, breathing all the pheromones she uses to manipulate and increase Danny's negative feelings.  
  
The scene nonplussed everyone, the people who was hidden in the city watching the fight, the Guys in With, Tucker, Jazz the people at the mall, as well as Spectra, and Ember who stopped playing her guitar, Aragon, the Fright Knight, Skulker and even Technus.  
  
After a while she pushes him back and wipes a little stream of reddish saliva from her lips with her fingers now in normal form, surprised and unexpectedly pleased with the kiss.  
  
\- Ok not even I saw that coming - Technus said trying not to laugh on his ass.  
  
\- Well that was… rather nicer than I thought - admitted Spectra with her eyes shining, trying to hide a smile behind her hand.  
  
But when taking a look at Danny's face, she see he is not happy, not even close. His face expressed nothing but pure rage and hate and for a second, it seemed to her that his sullen eyes gleamed red.  
  
Whacking her chest, he fires a devastating streaming ghost ray and buries deep in the ground.  
  
\- All right, who's next?! - shouted full of rage.  
  
"In my fighting I learned a few things about my ghost powers, and one of them is that they are very linked to my emotions. And the strongest link of all is rage and hate.  
  
"And when I started to run out of energy I knew that if I wanted to keep fighting I needed to feel that again. To feel that white hot rage straight from inside, coming from my stomach and burning through my bones. I needed to feel hate.  
  
"That's why I thank you Spectra, for being here for me when I needed you the most. For giving me the hate I needed to fight back. But hate and rage burn fast, so I have to act quickly if I wanna get this done."  
  
Harshly wounded and scorched, she tries to get up, but Danny bustles and slams her head against the pavement.  
  
Using his cold energy, he grabs her hair and takes a look at her face and sees the damage he caused her: broken lips, a black eye and her new perfect nose broken.  
  
\- Look at that face. Looks like you need another nose job.  
  
Danny creates a ball of burning ectoplasm and burns her face with it, marking his palm deep in her skin. Her screaming is choked by his hand.  
  
He began to assault her again, beating her head against the floor, over and over until he focused on Skulker who was hurling at him transformed into a huge flaming robot lion prepared to whack him with his claws, like the wild animal he resembled, but then again, Danny wasn't fighting over a rational plan he could see, he was fighting on something much more savage than him, something unpredictable. He was fighting guided on his instinct, an instinct wilder than Skulker, blinded by rage, completely unpredictable, and so he uses Spectra as a "human" shield.  
  
Skulker stabs his new lover in the back. Her flaming hair goes off leaving her usual hair.  
  
\- So you are acting like an animal, ah? You want to be savage? Is that so? Then I'll show you what it is like to be savage! - he yelled dropping her body aside, and shooting a barrage of ice spike on Skulker's chest, piercing his armor. In a quick movement he strikes the spikes and thrust them forward into his armor, tearing it apart bare handed, leaving the robotic body torn almost in half.  
  
\- All right little prince, time to meet the age of extinction! - yelled glowering Aragon.  
  
Aragon ran at full speed on all four, spitting purple and red fire. Danny flied and phased into the fire, freezing it from the inside.  
  
Gathering all his cold energy in his fists, he delivers a devastating freezing strike to his jaw, leaving half his face frozen and broken.  
  
Aragon shrieks in pain by Danny's cold and stinging punches.  
  
He roars loudly, breaking the ice in his mouth and unleashing his dragon fire one more time, but Danny extinguished his fire realizing a powerful snowstorm from his hands.  
  
The blizzard freezes his already cold blood and slows his movements, frosting his skin. The sharp ice spikes pierce him causing him great pain and Danny hits him one more time concentrating his ghost energy in his right fist, knocking him out, and leaving his jaw broken and hanging.  
  
With his eyes and fists smoldering, he seeks for Ember, who rapidly fires a red ghost ray. He hollows his body to avoid the attack and pounces her, kicking her guitar, and rapidly taking her by the leg and falls at full speed, slamming her against the floor several times till leave her almost unconscious and moaning in pain.  
  
In a purple bat shaped blaze, the Fright Knight appears and gazed amazed to how Danny wounded his partners.  
  
\- Looks like somebody is stronger than you expected.  
  
-You think? I may have underestimated the power of his rage and its limitations. Just go there and finish him.  
  
\- My pleasure.  
  
The Fright Knight appears behind Danny trying to slay his head but his ghost sense warns him about him and creates a force field.  
  
In a sudden movement he sweeps the floor with his right leg, taking the Fright Knight down and began to hit him with all his strength over and over, burying him into the ground and even making the earth tremble with his blows.  
  
With his optic ghost ray, he blasts Danny sky high, so he could get on his feet.  
  
Flying back, channeling all of his ghost energy through his fist he strikes him in the chest with an overwhelming power. The Fright Knight crosses his arms to defend himself, but his rage is just bombast. The bright green explosion could be seen from miles away in the city.  
  
Danny falls on his knees, changing back and forward whilst the Fright Knight slowly rolled over in pain trying to stand up again.  
  
\- Good job, ghost boy. And here I thought that your emotions were a weakness to you. A liability. That you would fight them, but instead you used that rage and frustration she made you feel to fight us back - says Technus walking towards him. - And putting yourself in danger as part of your plan to get that kiss? I would never think of you capable of something like that. I must say that was… unpredictable. And a nice a touch if I must say. Kissing Skulker's new girlfriend… must have got him mad as hell.  
  
\- Yeah, that's what I was aiming for. I guess you don't know me as much as you think… Trust me, not the first time I do something stupid that could kill me - he mumbled while trying to get on his feet with a heavy breathing. - Wait a minute a minute, did you just say Skulker is dating Spectra?!  
  
\- I am not surprised to see them fail after that. As much damage as they caused, this bodies and weapons they are using, they're not the perfect killing machines I envisioned. They're still prototypes. Models with a really short-live battery, which forced me to look for an alternative powersource.  
  
\- Wait, so that's why sent the Fright Knight to fight the Guys in White? So he could steal all their energy and rise up a ghost shield that could be used as a powering auxiliary for your toys when they start running low?  
  
\- No, but damn it kid, you really should give classes on how to be evil. I have a sense that you really would excel on that. Hope you don't mind me taking that idea.  
  
\- Oh shit.  
  
\- No, my solution was to use Ember's empowering music as powersource, and while you were too busy fighting the rest of my team, she played that new guitar I made for her (which is much cooler that the old one) and keep them fully charged. Also stealing your ghost energy to fuel the Skulker 2.0 armor came in pretty handy.  
  
\- And just to be clear, this is the part where you start yelling your plan?  
  
\- Yelling? I don't know if you haven't noticed it yet, but I Technus, don't yell anymore. And as for my plan, it hasn't changed since we meet. I plan on take over the world. I'm just playing different angles and doing it one step at the time. Now Ember, be a dear and start playing again.  
  
Slowly, Ember got on her feet and started playing her guitar once again, using her improved empowering ability to strengthen her fallen partners. Her energizing music rebuilt and healed their bodies and/or armors and help them walk again. Skulker's new cyber armor healed without a scratch, just like brand new. Spectra's hair began to ablaze as she got up completely healed and unscratched. The Fright Knight arose bright and shining, and Aragon heated up melting the ice that covered him and breaking free, roaring and breathing a large red flare while his jaws healed as well.  
  
\- Oh, shit… You sure we can't solve this with a drink? I got very good at making cocktails, but don't tell my mother. She makes me drink non-alcoholic beers. She thinks I'm too young for real alcohol and that I can't handle it - Danny giggles -, she is wrong and so wrong. Turns out it burns as soon as it gets through my body…  
  
The Fright Knight attacks him with his sword, Danny moves with a lot of strain, barely dodging the flaming sting of his new Soul Shredder, but Skulker hits his flesh with his three energy claws and makes him hit the ground. He falls on his knees, with three broken ribs, a pierced bleeding lounge, an open wound and his mouth full of his own ectoplasm.  
  
After a long guitar solo, his beaten enemies were again stronger and more powerful than him.  
  
\- Prepare to met thy fears for once and for all. - Said the Fright Knight rising his blazing sword to decapitate Danny. - Any last words?  
  
\- You know… is really hard… to take you serious… with that voice you have in here… - states Danny with difficulty to breathe and great pain in his chest.  
  
\- I'll teach you to kiss another man's girlfriend - Skulker growled pulling out a green ghost-machine gun from his left arm.  
  
\- You too? Looks like those things are today's fashion. Maybe I should get a pair too - said the Fright Knight looking at Skulker's weapon.  
  
\- Dude, as your friend I tell you, never say that again.  
  
\- What thing?  
  
\- "I should get a pair too." That's not gonna take you anywhere good.  
  
"I can't believe it. This is un-fucking-believable. I'm sitting right here in front of them, bleeding, wounded. Being more of an easy kill than I've ever been and they are talking like if I ain't going anywhere? Maybe instead of giving them more fire power, he should have gave them more brain power. I forget how stupid and talkative Skulker can be.  
  
"But then again, the Fright Knight was stupid enough to say he should get a pair too. I would laugh on my ass if I could.  
  
"I'm glad my enemies are that stupid. It gives me time to think a way to run away from them."  
  
Knowing he couldn't fight anymore, Danny decides is time for a tactical withdrawal using a trick he almost forgot he had.  
  
\- Hey assholes - says as loud as he can with his half-healed lounge, focusing part of his little energy in his hands, releasing an intense white light in their eyes, to dazzle and blind everyone around him.  
  
Skulker and the Fright Knight are the most affected, but the late one's eyes take the worst part, while Skulker cybernetic eyes take little time to adjust being able to see sooner than his partners only to realize Danny was gone gone.  
  
\- See, this why you don't talk when you are about to kill somebody - fumed Spectra.  
  
\- There, there my child. He is locked, wounded and bleeding so he is not going anywhere - says Technus incredibly calmed-, and as you can see, he left a trail we can follow - explained pointing at Danny's trail of ectoplasm. - But this time when you got him corned with a gun at his face, squeeze it! - he shouted at Skulker squeezing his neck, and using his ghost stinger with enough power to bring him down.  
  
\- Now catch his scent and found him - ordered him, letting his neck go so he would trace Danny's scent.  
  
Quickly, Skulker's new predatory sense os smell allows him to trace him like a wounded animal.  
  
\- I always said he was an animal, but this ridiculous - argued Ember.  
  
\- I must say, you've been incredibly calm and passive during this brawl - points out Spectra. - How comes you haven't done anything to help us?  
  
\- I gave you power beyond your limited imagination. I gave you bodies stronger than you could ever be!  
  
\- As long as I play - retorted Ember.  
  
\- I've done everything I had to do for you.  
  
\- Well in case you haven't notice, this power isn't enough - growled Aragon.  
  
\- The problem is not the power, the problem is you don't know how to use it. You dawdle around with it like children.  
  
Skulker follows the trace of ectoplasm and blood left by Danny into a racked warehouse where the blood trace goes death, and starts following his scent.  
  
The smell of his blood blends with the smell of rat urine and waste, and the salty water that leaked the place, but not enough to lose trace of it. He keeps sniffing until he gets into the basement with his partners hovering behind him. The place was dark and no one could see anything beyond the poor illumination of the Fright Knight's cape, and Skulker and Ember's hair. The steam of the pipes messed with the nose of Skulker's armor making its sense of smell useless, a flaw by design that was not notice until now, that forced him to change into night vision to look for his pray.  
  
Danny listens every step getting closer by the heels of Ember and Spectra and the metallic click made by the armors when they walked whilst hidden between the boxes, watching them get closer to him, holding his breathe so they couldn't notice him and trying to control his accelerated hearth beat, hoping they would leave soon. He moves carefully and hides between a box and a wall, where Skulker sticks his head out in the middle of the boxes, getting very next to him, making his hearth beat faster and faster. Danny could feel the heat of his fire going from his feet through his body and started sweating. Skulker hears his drop falling onto the ground and looks at the leaking pipes thinking it was the source of the sound, overlooking Danny, hidden in the shadows by his dark clothes, who in his head, pried for him to go away, until a group a of rats got his attention. He watches them march in straight line very close to wall, walking into the boxes where Danny was hiding and takes off thinking it was them whose hearth beat he heard. Danny was squatting on haunches position on the top of the box, holding his wound with his right hand, thinking: "I bet Tucker won't let this go. On the other hand, if I had trained, they would know my new movements too… Yeah, I'll go with that."  
  
Luckily for him, the cut was made with laser which cauterized part of it, so his bleeding wasn't so bad, but it was still a deep cut. His lounge was already healed, but he was breathing with difficulty, he was exhausted and at the same time surprised to see how far he got even when Skulker stole half his energy during the fight, energy he would use against him if they quarreled again. But there was no point for him to keep fighting. He was weak and vulnerable by the first time in his life ever since he got his ghost powers, and even if he could fight, they'd know how to fight him back. Is in that moment when he realizes he had the answer to his problem all along.  
  
They know how to fight Danny Phantom but they had never fought Danny Fenton, and it was time for him to start acting like him. To stop fighting like a ghost-hunter and fight like the teenager he is and start running away from his bullies, and for that he needed a diversion.  
  
With his wound reduced to only a stinging mark on his ribs, slowly he crawls over the box to float onto the ceiling where he slowly started climbing down to get to the wall and take the fire extinguisher and fire axe. He knows he can't run forever and that they were spread looking for him and he needed them at the same point, so he wouldn't cross with another one later, his years of running from bullies thought him that. Pounding the pipes with the axe, he calls their attention. They hurl at him very swiftly just as he wants them to do. Closing his eyes, he realizes a powerful blinding light once again, but this time Skulker takes the worst part due to his night vision. Confused, he starts waving his bladed arms around, becoming more of a threat for his friends than for Danny himself. He changes to infrared and sees his head standing right before him and tries to decapitate him with his arm-pendulum blades, but he dodges the blow and hits the pipe behind him instead and releases a large amount of steam getting blinded again by its heat.  
  
Danny covers all of them with foam, turning off their ghostly fires, and slams Skulker's head with the empty extinguisher, kicking Ember in the stomach and hiring Aragon in the face with the axe. In the confusion they start fighting themselves while Danny runs out of the basement and goes human as soon as he is upstairs. His human body tumbles down by the fatigue  
  
There was no sign of Technus anywhere. "He must be with the others", thinks Danny. Skulker blows the basement to break the fight and floats upstairs with his team. Danny swiftly leans over the remaining wall with his hearth pounding out of his chest and whacks his neck with the axe as soon as he shows up his flaming head.  
  
Falling on his knees, Skulker rips the so-deeply-buried axe out of his neck and tosses it around.  
  
Regenerating his armor's neck, he gets up and points at Danny with his wrist machine gun, ready to kill him and this time he wasn't going to dawdle again.  
  
Danny was frighten, staring at the bottom of a cannon, pointing right at his face, incapable of moving his oh-so-havey body, regretting the decisions that lead him to this point.  
  
\- "If only I wasn't so damn good at kicking their asses, I would have made the right call a long time ago." he thought, waiting for his last choice to be the right one. And in that second that seemed like hours to him, his patience is rewarded.  
  
Tucker emerges from nowhere in the Fenton RV using all of its weapons, shooting Aragon and the Fright Knight in the back and bonding Spectra and Ember with ectoplasmic goo, with Cujo coming out of it, chewing Skulker's arm off and throwing him away to start licking his master's face.  
  
\- Cujo, you just got right in time - says with an ache in his chest while he tries to get up. - Took you so long? - he asks to Tuck almost sarcastically and happy to see him like he has never been in the past.  
  
\- I stopped for gas. And is really hard to get Cujo inside the truck.  
  
\- I was starting to think you never got my message - says getting inside the R.V. - And Jazz thought that texting during a fight was stupid - claims with a wide smile and remembers how he convinced his enemies he was life-tweeting when he was in actuality making an escape plan with Jazz and Tuck instead.  
  
Flashback.  
  
Danny texts Valerie, Tucker and Jazz to make a plan to escape from his enemies while dodging Ember's savage assaults.  
  
\- Guys listen up. I'm getting beat up here.  
  
\- Yeah. We can see that. What did I tell you? - replies Tuck.  
  
\- Shut up and listen. I need you two to get me out of here. Bring the Fenton R.V. and Cujo. Val, I need you to bring the E-E Disruption Bomb my parents've been work on at Axion Labs.  
  
Now.  
  
\- It was stupid! - Jazz shouts from the passenger seat. - Almost as stupid as coming here with no backups or a plan and falling in such an obvious trap! You are lucky that two wrongs make a right and that I'm glad you're still alive, otherwise I'd be shouting you louder! - she scolded him, shooting at Spectra in the face who was floating at them with her red steaming claws.  
  
\- In other news, how was your date? - asks looking to change the subject with no success.  
  
\- Just get in.  
  
\- Fine. Where is Val?  
  
\- She is en route.  
  
\- Correction. Amity Park's best ghost hunter is here - claims flying at full speed over their heads, landing on the R.V. with her board hovering around firing lasers at the Ghastly Six - Ready to get your ass out of here?  
  
\- Yes. But we can't leave now. That unilateral ghost shield won't let me go. We have to-  
  
\- Leave? But where are you going to go? - With no warning, Technus strikes him in the back with a blue plasma ray, throwing him to floor. - Looks like I'll have to take care of you by myself after all.  
  
\- You still here? - he mumbles in pain.  
  
Technus shapes his right hand into a sort of canister with his fingers protruding as long robotic claws, that quickly began to smolder blue and phases it in Danny's chest.  
  
\- What-? What the hell are you doing to me?! - Danny yells in shock and pain.  
  
\- Don't worry, child. This won't hurt one little bit - states reaching inside him.  
  
Jazz and Valerie attack him at the same time, but he deflects the ghost rays with his left hand and pushes the Fenton R.V. away with no strain.  
  
Danny could feel his fingers reaching inside his body. It was a painful and familiar feeling, the same feeling he had when Plasmius used his Ghost Gauntlets on him, reaching and touching what would be otherwise unreachable and untouchable even for him, reaching into his ghost core, the source of his ghost energy and his ghost powers.  
  
A cold shiver goes through all his body getting colder and colder, and then his body start burning hot as hell at the next second.  
  
Tucker and Jazz got out of the upside down vehicle to stare at him not knowing what was going on or what to do to stop it.  
  
His body started to morph against his will, going ghost and then human unable to control it. As Thecnus got closer to his core, this one began to release large amounts of ghost energy through Danny's body. Immediately, the fatigue disappeared, and all his wounds started glowing and healing, but he was still paralyzed by Technus, who managed to reach his core.  
  
\- You know, I always wondered what made you so special above others. How could you get to be what you are in the first place. How comes that an adolescent half-ghost can beat every ghost in the ghost zone, including the ghost king himself. But now all your secrets shall be mine! - yelled full of joyce ripping out his ghost core.  
  
\- "What's he doing? What secret could he get from me?" - Thinks Danny in all this chaos.  
  
Ripping a ghost core was something that has never been done before, but Thecnus didn't care about that. And whereas he thought that it would be a simple and painful procedure, it turned out to be more complicated than he foresaw, with hundreds of complications that could happen, but the one complication that happened was the worst of all, Danny's ghost core started breaking.  
  
He quickly pulled out his hand, steaming and burned, while Danny roars in a pain like he has never felt before. Cujo bites Technus and shakes him like a toy, throwing him to warehouse behind them now that he had his guard down and his hand was out of Danny.  
  
\- Danny, what's going on?! - asks Jazz frightened, watching her little brother releasing massive waves of ghost energy from his body, with no control whatsoever.  
  
\- Back off! - he yells with his eyes completely green and blazing. Soon his hair began to ablaze, becoming a snow with fire, and his skin turned as dark as the night with green gleaming cracks.  
  
\- Yes! Look at all that power. Boundless, unrestrained, unlimited. - claimed Technus - How can you even survive that? What are you?  
  
\- What am I? I'm unleashed?! - raged Danny, looking at him with fury in his eyes and streams of ghost and cold energy spiraling around him, streaming out of his body, and showing his fanged teeth.  
  
Not knowing what he was doing, Technus had awoken a beast that not even Danny can control.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

The Day That Never Comes, Part 5

Through the looking glass.

3 Hours later.

Amity Park's Hospital

Danny wakes up in a hospital bed, with his chest covered with bandages.

\- I see you are up - says Jazz, sitting next to his bed.

\- Yeah.

As soon as he gets up, he puts his clothes back on, and checks on his patient chart clipboard on the holder. He couldn't believe the wounds he had when he got there: both lungs punctured, six broken ribs, (as well as many other bones he didn't even know he had) major abrasions on the torso and shoulders, skull fracture with a terrible concussion that would have killed a human being, and many other wounds the doctor's couldn't quite define, and yet was still able to make it to a hospital -barely alive albeit where doctors said that only his amazing constitution kept him alive after all his punishment and during the surgery.

\- The doctors didn't like you transforming in the middle of the surgery. Said that your ghost organs were too hard to work with.

\- Really?

\- They said they all look the same since they're all green and couldn't tell what was what… or touch them anyway for that matter.

\- Are you upset? You look upset. You sound upset.

\- Upset? Danny I'm mortified.

\- Why? I'm fine now. I'm alive, my wounds are already healed. I'm a little sore but I'm fine - said to comfort his sister giving her a smile.

\- Danny, you're not fine - cried out taking him by the shoulders. - You… you almost died there. And then you were out of control, you needed a major surgery, you… you never needed surgery after a battle - sobbed his sister holding her tears. - You aren't healing as you used to. You transformed over and over in the middle of the surgery. What was all that? What happened there?

Danny sighs deeply.

\- You name it. All of my enemies, Technus, Spectra, Skulker, Aragon, the Fright Knight, Ember… Everything I thought I could handle and I couldn't. I was such a fool to think that they would never grow past me… - he mourned. - But now I know what I'm dealing with. And this time when I go for the rematch, I'm going to win… How is this place still standing anyway? - asked confused about how could the hospital remain intact.

\- It has its own ghost shield class seven generator. Now don't change the subject. What makes you think I'm letting you go out there to fight them again?

\- Because… you are the kind of big sister that lets her little brother do what he wants when their parents are gone?

\- Try again.

\- You're not letting me go, are you?

\- No.

\- But… the city needs me or whatever is left of. I can't just stay here doing nothing.

\- That's exactly what you should be doing! Getting into a fight without thinking is what got you here in the first place. Do you even remember what happened?

\- Actually I can't remember too much of what happened after you showed up.

Jazz sighs deeply, sitting prone on the bed.

\- I wish I couldn't remember that either…

\- Why? What happened? Did anybody…? Did I hurt anybody?

\- When Technus did… whatever he did to you… it was like if you weren't you at all. You were out of control, you were like a savage animal on the loose…

7:12 PM UTC

His hair had become fire, a sing he had reached the zenith of his power. Danny's fractured core released all its power out of his body in violent bursts of energy, shifting between ghost energy and cold energy waves, and every stream of energy that came out of him would destroy or freeze everything they hit.

Floating in the air, he roars in pain even louder than before, overwhelmed by the uncontrollable power that so savagely overtakes his body.

\- Danny! Danny what's happening?! - asked his sister, worried as she had never been before.

Danny tries to hold back his power, almost hitting his sister with a swirling stream of ghost energy.

\- Jazz, what are you doing? He is too dangerous to be close to. - Claims Valerie, taking her away from Danny.

\- No! He needs me.

\- The power… is just too much… its hurts how it burns… but is also s-so cold at the-e s-same time - he drawled and stuttered feeling his body shattered, burned and somehow frozen by his energy. It was like the first time his ice powers manifested only but a thousand times worst.

\- Danny, whatever is going don't keep it to your self! You have to let it go!

\- J-Jazz is ri-right. - said to himself - I-It's like Frostbite said, to control this power I-I gotta let it out all at once.

Putting himself over the pain, he concentrates and lets go all that savage energy that burdens him out of his body, glaring like a green and blue cold sun.

The energy he expels jeopardizes everyone and everything around him, freezing it or destroying it. Friend or enemy… his power didn't know the difference, but at least now he had it under control. In fact, it was more control than he ever had in his life.

\- The power… this power… it burns and freezes my body at the same time, but… it doesn't hurt anymore. Instead it makes me feel… awesome! It makes me feel free!

\- Danny! Are you ok? - asked Valerie fading her ghost shield covered in snow, which she used to protect herself along with Tucker and Jazz.

\- Ok? I'm more than ok. I can feel it now. This is what it feels like. All this power. All that energy… I feel a huge energy as if… I could do anything! - He claimed using his now greatly enhanced telekinesis to lift his enemies behind their ghost shield - All this power at my disposal. All limitless.

\- Guys, I think Danny's talking nonsense. - pointed out Valerie.

\- Nonsense? You couldn't be anymore wrong. I see it all clear now. Don't you get it?! I have ascended to a whole new level. I see and feel my conscience going to and fro beyond this earthly realm and see the only truth that matters: that I'm a being of power and I exist only for it!

\- …Oh yeah, this baby is broken - she replied.

\- Broken? I am not broken. I am UNLIMITED! Every power I've had and I'll have, powers I didn't even know or suspected I had. Now I can see and feel the bond that brings my matter together, and not only mine, but yours and everything around me.

\- Why don't you feel this? - asked Skulker popping out two light ring-shaped missile launchers from his shoulders firing all his ammo.

The missiles stop as soon as they are fired right in front of his face by Danny's simplest thought.

\- You know, I could turn this missiles into mercury, with the snap of my fingers now, or just simply put them to a much better use. - said putting the missiles in his face.

\- You know, for a guy that complained about me talking too much, you really have a thing for blubber - said Technus shooting him from behind with his hands shaped as a plasma cannon.

The powerful blue blast could have easily harmed Danny in the past, but now the attack is absorbed by his body causing no harm whatsoever.

\- You… - suddenly, Danny feels how all that powers fades away the same way it came and throws his enemies at Technus before losing all his power.

Danny tumbles onto the ground with his ghost hair back to normal, getting hurt and realizing he was once again vulnerable and powerless.

\- Soon! We must get him while he is still vulnerable! - commanded Skulker. - Technus, I don't know what you did to that kid, but you better don't do that again.

\- Oh no, I don't think so - said Valerie summoning her cube cannons and blasting him in the back with her purple ghost rays.

Outrageous, he hurled at Valerie transforming into a giant black lion and jumping on her only to get caught by her hovering board and zapped with its ghost stinger.

\- Ha! The Ghost Zone's best hunter my ass.

The Fright Knight phased into the ground and jumped in front of Valerie, treating with slaying her but Jazz blocks him wearing the Fenton Peeler, and blasting him in the face.

\- Thanks, red.

\- You are welcome.

\- You guys are useless without me - claimed Ember turning her guitar into a blazing axe to decapitate a powerless Danny.

\- I'm warning you, back off bitch! - he yelled overwhelmed by his cold energy again.

\- Make me - she blurted as she got closer to him.

\- I said… back off! - he roared waving his right hand, unleashing a powerful cold energy wave, creating very long and sharp ice shards rising from the ground around him, almost hitting Ember in the face.

Shivering in cold, his hair slowly began to ablaze and his skin began to darken one more time.

\- Te-te-te-technus… yo-you are gonna pay for this. Whatever you did to me, I'm gonna kill you for it! - he yelled with his green eyes blazing. - I'm gonna tear you apart molecule by molecule.

\- Wow, he really is your father's son - Valerie said to Jazz. - Now how do we stop your brother from going nuclear ghost again?

\- I don't know - she said kicking Spectra in the face -, I don't even know what's wrong with him.

\- Ha! You have lost all control over your powers whatsoever. I love it! This is even better than see you powerless.

\- Are you insane?! - asked Skulker breaking valerie's board. - The kid is even more dangerous and powerful now.

\- Powerful, but dangerous. Look at him. He is so overwhelmed by his powers now, that he can't fight us because he is to busy fighting with them.

\- I hate to break up your little bubble but he almost pierced my face! - replied Ember, angry.

\- That's just a sharpy ice wall. You gonna let that stop you now?- said blasting the ice shards. - Wait a minute, where is he now? - he asked when he saw that Danny was gone.

\- He-ey fuckers, are you looking for me? - stuttered from above. - Well, here you got me - said rising his hands, concentrating as much energy as he could control, with blue energy rings spiraling around them and fired an intense blue plasma ray at Skulker, Ember and Technus.

This one summons a powerful ghost shield, but it barely withstands the attack.

\- All right, I don't now what's going on with my powers, but whatever it is, it seems to have its benefits. I guess I can put this problem to some good, I just have to be careful with how much energy do I use… or use it when is not killing me or before it's gone… - He said to himself, feeling his powers stabilizing.

But his thoughts are interrupted by the girly scream of his sister, Valerie and Tucker.

In all the disarray, he forgot about them and now Aragon, Spectra and the Fright Knight had them at their mercy, threatening with slicing their throats.

-What is it gonna be child? Your life or theirs? - asked Aragon in his hybrid form, holding Jazz's throat with his claws.

\- You… leave them… alone! - he growled flying at such stunning speed it seemed he teleported before them, hitting Aragon in the face, releasing his sister.

Channeling his energy through his feet, he kicks Spectra in the chest so hard she is left wind out and punches the Fright Knight with such strength that for a second he thought he would rip his head off.

\- You got fast now, but you think you got faster than bullets? - asked Skulker pulling out his guns, but Danny appeared in front of him before he could pull the trigger and broke his weapons.

\- Now what big boy? - asked throwing him into the water. - I guess the little kitten cannot swim. Which leaves you alone - fumed at Ember.

\- Not for too long - she responded rising her hand to play again.

\- Oh, I think no - he said freezing her arm with his cold vision.

\- My arm! - she roared in pain with her arm burned with by the ice.

Promptly, he kicks her guitar, grabs her by the neck and slammed her head against the floor.

Once again he was losing control. His rage took over him, all his power began to blind him, and deep down inside, he was loving it. The feeling he had with his power running wild, losing all control, attacking his enemies so ferociously, beating them the way he so wanted to do ever since he meet them was the most pleasant thing he ever felt.

But his action make his sister stare at him in awe, horrified by his doing.

\- Impressive. I knew you had it in you kid - uttered Technus -, I knew you had it in you all along. All that power and rage, all that darkness sleeping inside you, waiting to break loose, and all you had to do was let it go all out in its most savage form.

\- If you wanna talk then you're gonna hear my voice when shouting out loud! - yelled using his ghostly wail despite being inside the Perfect Pitch field.

\- What?! Wait. No, this can be possible! - Technus cried out in shock by Danny overcoming his invention.

With his power fluctuating, his ghostly wail was on a different scale, and even though the Perfect Pitch field was still diminishing its effect, it had power enough to make the whole pier tremble until his power was already gone. With Technus on the ground, he goes human and then ghost again.

His sister Jazz ran at him as fast as she could.

\- Danny, what's going on with you?

\- My powers… I can't control them. I-I feel like a nuclear bomb. I could explode at any second, unless.

With his powers kicking back as insane horses, he ran at Valerie and took the Ecto-Energy Disrupting Bomb his parents have been working on at Axion labs. His idea was to use in order to destroy the unilateral ghost shield, but having lost control over his powers was not in his plans, and by having no control over his energy he was a threat for his friends the same way he was for his foes, and he could only see a solution for his dilemma. It was stupid, but stupid is what got him this far in the first place; he was going to disrupt his ghost energy with the bomb.

Putting it on his chest, very close to his heart, he triggered the bomb, suppressing almost all of the wild energies that ran wild out of him. Then everything goes black for him.

Spectra, Technus, Fright Knight and Aragon tried to kill him, now that he was weak again and could barely maintain his ghost form.

Jazz, Tucker and Valerie fought to protect him, but their forces were nothing for them, even weakened after their fight, and were forced to escape with Danny to a hospital.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

The Day That Never Comes, Part 6 Hello Stranger

Fenton Works

10:37 PM UTC

_"Jazz tells me everything that happened, how I lost control over my powers, how I almost killed myself to get some of it back. How mortified she was to see me in the E.R._

_"I couldn't believe what she said, but Val and Tuck were there. They told me the same story._

_"I've done some stupid things in the past. That's how I became a superhero, but that… that didn't look like me at all. I see that now._

_"The way they said I attacked them, like if I wanted their deaths, even though their ghosts… I just couldn't believe it._

_"All of it because I thought myself better than them. I left my hubris cloud my judgment. I became arrogant while they looked for a way to outgrow me… I guess I got what I deserved."_

Danny stares at his own reflection in his bathroom, remembering his battle with Technus and his crew.

The anger he fells makes him squeeze his fists so tight that he shakes in rage and shatters his mirror.

_"I look at the past and I wonder 'when did this happen?' Then I think: 'if somebody had just warned me about this…' and then I remember Mr. M._

_"Was this the threat he was talking about? Was this the war he mentioned or was it just the beginning of something bigger?"_

10:43 PM UTC

_"I look at the tv news… they say the danger's gone away… but I can see the fire still alight, burning into the streets. I know they're out there, waiting to finish the job._

_"All of it felt almost like a nightmare. Something that I would never believe to be truth, but it is._

_"And while I sit in my room, my foes are loose in the city, free to do as much chaos and havoc as they want and I can't stop them 'cause since I woke up in the hospital, I can feel how my powers are still… fluxing._

_"Was this what Technus was up to? He wanted to kill me or cripple me in the process? Because if that was his plan… he succeed._

_"Now I am for the first time in years, powerless. I hate to say it but if I want to stop him, I need to ask for help, but not from my friends or family… but from M… whoever the hell he is…"_

Danny looks in desk the card number of that mysterious man. He kept the card not because he believed in his words, but because he feared they might be truth, because he deep down in his heart, he felt he might need his help.

The phone rings three times and hears the voice of a woman. Immediately he asks for Mr. M.

\- M, are you there? It's me, Danny and… I need your help.

Center of Amity Park, Le Fantastique

10:52 PM UTC

\- Can somebody please, tell me WHAT THE HELL ON EARTH are those ghosts doing in there?! – shouts agent K.

\- Apparently… they're having dinner. – answers an operative.

\- What?!

He savagely takes the binoculars of an agent to take a better look at the ghosts who where in fact, having dinner.

\- Can somebody explain me why hasn't anybody called the central H.Q. in D.C.?!

\- We've tried sir, but the dome made by the Fright Knight ghost is jamming all outcoming signals. We can't contact anyone outside the city.

\- And what about the local H.Q.?

\- It's located right outside the city limits, just a few feet away from where the dome falls.

\- So it's also out of range. God-freaking-damn it!

\- Even if we still could communicate, there is no one there, the place is empty. All the operatives left to fight that Fright Knight, so there is basically no one to communicate with in our headquarters.

\- On the other hand the tv still works - blurted J.

K watches him with his head tilted and peeved.

And while the Guys in White try to solve their current situation, the ghosts discuss their next movement as well.

\- I can't believe that stupid ghost kid got away… again! – yells Skulker, pounding the table with his new arm.

\- Yeah, but not without having his butt kicked like he never had before – states Ember.

\- You forget the part where he kicked our asses back, and almost kills us - pointed Spectra.

– You are right, we suck. Though I must say Technus that this new guitar you gave me it's really meant to rock. - She says with a big smile on her face. - Maybe if I get to play in front next time and not the background instead, we might get a better chance. Playing as groupie has never being my thing.

\- I wouldn't say that - mumbles Skulker.

\- What you talk about? I mean just look at you. You have a whole new armor that allows to steal all his energy, you got more firearms that the nazi empire and yet you are beaten by his dog.

\- Watch your mouth Ember. You might have a big mouth, but is not enough to eat one of my plasma missiles.

\- You're right that is the dog's mouth - replied Spectra.

Immediately, they both started growling at each other.

\- Skulker, Spectra, as much as I'd like to see which one you has the most powerful body ever created by me, I cannot let you tear each other apart, not while we still have work to do. And by work I mean, create a situation that forces Danny Phantom to go out and play hero again, regardless of how little control he has over his powers now.

\- And of what good is that supposed to be? You heard the kid, his power is unlimited now, he could turn my whole body into goo if he has the chance, or turn this whole dome into a snow dome. He could unleash a third ice age in here

-  _If_  he has the chance. Can't you see? All that power as unlimited as it is, is just too much power for him to handle. He had no control over it whatsoever. Such was the burden he had to disrupt it to regain control again.

\- Wait, you said they're disrupted, that's means right now, he is in his most vulnerable state since he is powerless, he is more vulnerable than ever before - points out Ember.

\- Exactly my child, you finally use your brain for something. So if you ask me of what good is that supposed to be, I'd say it's not going to be of any good for him.

\- But even now it wouldn't last that much since they could burst again at any second - replied Spectra.

\- Then I suggest we don't waste one more second in talking.

\- And how do you pretend we finish our job? – asks Aragon.

\- Luckily for you, I've foreseen you failing as you always have, not this form though - said, keeping oblivious to them that their weapons are prototypes. - I knew there was the possibility of it. So I prepared a backup plan.

\- And what is that supposed to be? – Ember inquired curious.

\- You'll know in its due time. For now let's just say it will blow your minds. But of course, I will need some extra hands to do the job.

11: 06 PM UTC

Fenton Works

Danny wakes up in his chair by the knocking in his window, and quickly notices a packet in his bed with a tag with his address written and the words: "From a good friend, to a friend in need. I believe this will suit your current needs."

\- This "will suit" my needs? A suit will suit my need? Well, that makes Tucker the second worst joker I've ever meet - says taking out his new suit. - Ok… this is going to be juicy… - states Danny looking at the jumpsuit that came in the packet.

Danny floats up to the Emergency Oops Center, and puts on the new suit. It was incredibly light and soft to touch and it had the same color scheme that his old jumpsuit had before his accident, but with some minor differences.

When putting on the new suit he could feel it was different. The way it covered his body from toe to head, the mask it had, all of it felt almost like if it was a part of him.

\- Shoulder pads? I like it. It fells really cozy, – states looking at them and the black lines that go all along his arms, coming from the collar of his suit, which now was v-pointed, to his gloves, and putting on his cowl which was opened at the top so his hair could stay out. The mask also had a pair of goggles, with eyes made of black flat lenses made of one-way glass, with insect-like design, which seem to act along with his face, making facial changes according to his actions and expressions.

– Not that I don't like it but is a little too late for a masks party to me. My identity is public knowledge, the whole world knows who I am. And what do I need the goggles for?

\- The flight goggles of the Phantom Hunter suit Mark III comes with a wide array of applications that Mr. M founds useful for the user, Danny Phantom – says a computer voice inside his ear.

\- Wow. Who said that?

\- This is the Phantom Hunter suit Mark III interface program.

\- Interface program?

\- More specifically, your G.O.S.

\- A gos? – asks Danny, confused.

\- It stands for Ghostly Operative System.

\- Great, like the Iron Cat armor. Now I have an actual voice in my head. Because my life wasn't crazy enough. And just to be clear, what am I supposed to call you?

\- This unit code name is G.A.S.P.E.R.

\- Wow, another non imaginative name from Mr. M. And here I thought my dad was lame for names.

\- G.A.S.P.E.R. stands for Ghostly and Artificial Survival Program Experienced in Retrieval, or rescue if you prefer.

\- You know what means? That somebody really wanted your initials to spell out G.A.S.P.E.R. And I don't like the word rescue, by the way.

\- There is a manual you must listen to, before you use me. It will give you a hand on the most basic function of me.

\- Manual? I don't have time to read.

\- I said listen, not read. Now, for a short introduction say one, for a long introduction say two. If you want to hear again the options say dial.

\- Yeah… I'm gonna go with one.

\- Hello Daniel - said Mr. M's voice -, this is a recording so there is no need to answer. This suit you are wearing was created with nano technology - he started to explain -. The titanium nano-fiber of the suit's fabric is bounded with an alloy of other regenerative techno-organic metals developed in the New Millennium Foundation and laced with malleable diamond-hard liquid crystals, all of it designed to offer the ultimate body protection. It will not only protect your body from high impact force trauma, extreme temperatures, firearms and other forms of damage, but it also will cover the "blind points" of your powers. Each individual "cell" of the suit works as an individual machine that memorizes your body form, changes and muscular memory, working along with your powers, adjusting to every change of shape or movement you make and it ensures you'd be only one capable of using it. To access the rest of the functions and gadgets you must first upgrade the suit.

\- For that, you first must go ghost - said G.A.S.P.E.R.

\- I don't think I can. My powers have been fluxing, they are… they are broken, ok - Danny admitted with grief.

\- Don't worry, M knows about your ghost core problem. He's thought about that. He knows everything.

\- Ok. Leaving aside how creepy that is… I have no other choice but to trust you. I'm going ghost - he yells morphing, and in the process, the colors of the costume reverse, with the suit becoming black and white just like his usual jumpsuit. - Hey, I did it! Now, I think you said something about an upgrade?

\- Downloading upgrades. Installing updates.

In that moment, blue energy rings, similar to his transformation rings, appear bringing forth high tech vambraces, a white and slightly pointed utility belt with his DP symbol around his waist and other notable changes.

\- Now, this I like it… I mean mmmm… I look good, I mean really good. Hey everyone, come and see how I look! - said looking at the details and changes of his new suit: a silver disk-pack on his back, metallic triangular plates on top of his hands, black steel-toed white boots, a thin chest piece made of an alloy of titanium and diamond within the suit's layers which makes him look like he has pectorals and a six-pack, and black and ash-gray armor plating on the legs, knees and shoulders. Also the flat lenses of his goggles became plano-convex lenses, and the white parts of his suit and his symbol were now white glowing. A blue circuit board-like gleam quickly rises and disappears in the black parts of the suit. - But I need more than that if I want to win this time. What else can the suit do?

\- The suit is equipped with the ultimate stealth technology, it hides you from any other kind of tracking form or technique such as IR vision, ghost detectors and smell. In other words, you will not only be invisible and odorless you'll be undetectable by radar. But its main function is to control and stabilize your powers and your ghost core, helping you gain control over them again, control in ways you could have never imagined. Through the neural interface, it will connect with you to stabilize, augment or suppress them to levels that you can tolerate and/or handle, though it could change depending on how much power you require for the situation. But remember that while it seems that the suit makes you stronger, it is still your own power, your own strength, and the suit only suppresses the exceeding energy of your outbursts, so you must be careful on how much you use.

\- Wait what?

\- The suit's neural interface is now integrated into your nervous system. Into your skin. And so am I.

\- Now, this feels good - said as feeling how his powers stop fluxing and become stable again -, not the part of having a ghost program attached to my body, but feeling I'm in control again. I even feel a bit stronger now, much stronger - he exulted with a wide smile -. Ok, let's try this new suit. But first… Hey buddy, you're up for a night walk? - he asks Cujo who often sleeps upstairs.

His dog licks his face as a sign of agreement.

– Ok then let's go for it. Prepare Ghastly Six, 'cause I'm not only going, I'm going on shining and shining like brand new!

Prepared to fight his enemies, Danny flies right to the city's center where they await for him, phasing through the roof.

Taking high, he flies faster than he has ever done before, leaving a green and white stele of energy behind him, coming directly from his ghost tail, and breaking the sound barrier with no effort.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

The Day That Never Comes, Part 7 Dead End

11:21 PM UTC

Amity Park's Center

Danny breaks into the sky like a green bright shooting star, so fast that nobody would see him coming, landing on his right knee, fisting the ground with one hand.

\- Wow… that… that was fast… like… "I've never been that fast" fast. Was that-?

\- Mach 1? Yes.

\- Awesome! Ok buddy, go look for whoever might need help here. Tell me what other wonders does this suit come with? What else can I do with it?

\- it comes with a built in ghost tracker so you can find ghost away from you ghost sense range - said the operative system, opening a heads-up display in the lenses with an circle and arrows pointing at all directions looking for ghosts -, life support, body temperature control, multiple ghost hunting weapons and gadgets, and one of the best parts, you see those vambraces, the belt and the disc-pack in your back? They work with dimensional compression technology, extremely rare.

\- And what does it do?

\- In simple terms, you can store a massive amount items in them without being burden by the weight, shape or number. Just your left vambrace could store your entire house, the entire building, and the utility belt stores almost all your new weapons.

\- Cool! And what's the touch screen for? - asked, while walking through the ruins of the city.

\- A manual interface. It also has free roaming service and wi-fi.

\- Yeah, that doesn't reek.

\- Anything else you'd like to know on my functioning or you prefer learn more during battle?

\- Yes. Mr. M said it or… you, or… whatever can, suppress or augment my ghost powers, how does that work?

\- Ok, you see? This is you - said playing a video in the lenses-screen of Danny losing control of his powers - at the zenith of your power, this is you using your powers at a 100%, the problem is that your ghost core was broken. Bursting and releasing all your power at once.

\- And that's a bad thing because…?

\- It could kill you. All that energy contained in your body pounding to go out and then released at once. That's just to much for you to take, let alone for you to control it, not to mention that a broken ghost core is unstable, is like a ticking bomb, the more energy it releases the more it breaks, and if it does you might die.

\- So what? You are like suppressing my power now?

\- Yes, right now I'm focusing and redirecting most of that energy, that would otherwise outburst right back into you core so it can began to heal itself. Technically you are using 20% of all your power, which is as much power as your body can tolerate. But the good news is that you are now twice stronger than before since you only used a 10% of your true potential.

\- How much can I use without losing control? How much is not deadly to me?

\- 50% at most, but I wouldn't recommend that unless you need it.

\- Well let's hope I don't have to.

As he approaches to the restaurant's doors, his ghost sense activates, forcing Danny to look around cautious, concentrating his ghost energy in his hands, but quickly he realizes he is alone. A heads-up display comes up, showing a red arrow in both lenses pointing at all directions, but the tracker also comes with nothing, there was no one there, the place was totally empty.

\- It's like a ghost town without the ghosts. Gas, you said the goggles come with several functions. Does it have…?

\- …the ability to see different kinds of EM spectrum? Yes.

\- Excellent, then hit me with infrared.

\- Fine, but I don't know what do you expect to find. The ghost scanner says you are the only ghost.

Immediately, Danny's white goggles glow blue, allowing him to see any kinds of heat and in that very second, he sees a red fist pouncing him in the face so hard that he's sent into the restaurant.

\- Aaahh… you know, when I said "hit me" with infrared, I wasn't being literal.

\- That wasn't me. It was… whatever the hell that is, and it also has company – points out G.A.S.P.E.R. while the restaurant fills in with pale skinned zombie-looking creatures, most of them wearing white high-tech armors while others just normal clothes.

The second they show up, a counter appears on the right corner of the right lens indicating the number of threats.

\- Yeah, I can see that, I'd say a lot of company – he agreed while watching the number growing on the threats counter, going from twenty to thirty-six.

Rapidly, Danny tries to fly out of the restaurant, but those creatures seize him so fast that he couldn't even react and turn intangible.

\- G.A.S.P.E.R., what the hell are those things? - asked in a struggle with those savage creatures.

\- I don't know, but whatever they are the are not ghosts, otherwise the scanner would be crazy.

\- They are like freaking zombies! - exclaimed writhing in a strive to break free - Gas, please tell me those aren't zombies - Danny said trying not to shit his new pants and phasing into the ground.

\- Ok, those are not zombies.

\- You don't sound convinced. - said showing up before them again - Why you don't sound convinced?

\- Because I don't know if they're zombies or not. I can't get any clear reading on those things. They are emanating some sort signal that's messing up with my scanners.

\- Well you can be sure of something now, I just shit my pants.

\- I can tell you, those creatures are in a state of decay, like a rotting body. That makes them even harder to read, so… I'll take a while to figure out what they truly are, but it would be a fair guess to say that they are zombies. – In that moment something incredible happens before them. Those zombie-like monsters go ghost, with green energy rings, taking a more ghostly appearance, with green skin and huge fangs, horns and claws; making the suit's ghost tracker go crazy. – Ok, now it'll take me a little longer to figure out what they are, but still I have my money on zombies.

\- I'd say more like zombie-ghosts, or ghost-zombies – states Danny as these "zombie-ghosts" attack him.

Using twice the power he expected, Danny blasted off the head of the first ghost zombie that jumped on him.

\- Wow, that's power. But still, ghost-zombies? Like… "ghozbies"? When did my life turn into a parody of The Walking Dead? – asks Danny sarcastically, kicking one of them in the face so hard he blows its head. - I mean really, how can there even be ghost-zombies in the first place? How is that? Was it a ghost that got bitten by a zombie, or a zombie that stood in a ghost portal and…?

And then he remembers the portal down the bridge, the secret lab and the how he and his team faced creatures like these that day.

\- Oh shit.

Danny tries to fly out of the building but the ghost-zombies quickly grab him and toss him on the floor. Danny fights them holding nothing back, taking off every jaw he pounds and smashing their heads on the floor and the walls, but no matter how much he fights them, the number just keeps growing. For each one of them he takes down, at least three appear from nowhere.

– Gas, where the hell do these things come from?! - asks Danny fighting and trying to avoid being bitten by them.

\- It would appear they have been here for some time now. Probably an ambush?

\- Really? What makes you say that? – says Danny sarcastically, kicking another one of them in the face.

Realizing that there were too many to fight with his fists, Danny generates a repulsion field, releasing enough energy to tear them apart molecule by molecule leaving nothing but a few bodies.

\- About the degeneration I spoke before. These "ghosts zombies hybrids", they're damaged on a cellular level. Each single cell of their bodies was dying, rooting like a real corpse, but that wasn't by natural causes, it was because of this - said showing a window in his lenses with an image of the creatures bloodstream -. See those little metallic things?

\- Let me guess. They're nano bots.

\- Exactly, that's what caused the interference, the nanobots are emanating some sort of radio signal, and they were also radiating ecto-energy into their cells. It would appear they were meant to turn humans into half ghosts like you

\- But something when awfully wrong and they turned into zombie ghosts instead of humans ghosts. But still, it appears he found a good use for them. Now, why would he waste his time creating flawed ghosts-hybrids? – wonders young Danny while taking a close look at some ghosts-zombie remains. - This isn't really his style. The nano bots part sound like him. He is a psycho-techno geek, but the whole creating hybrids and using zombies thing? He is not a crazy geneticist, that is not his thing. Besides, he lives in the ghost zone, surrounded by ghosts. Do you think he already lost the little sanity he had?

\- It sounds plausible.

\- Tell me Technus, have you already gone totally crazy or you are just trying some new stuff? – He asks Technus, getting on his feet with his ghost sense emanating.

\- You think I'm crazy, child? – utters Technus, showing up from behind with his teammates. – Only that shows how little your thinking and your vision is. And for the record, these are not common ghosts.

\- We know. They're your sick and heinous attempts of replicating me.

\- Speaking in plural? Looks like he is gone crazy too – states Ember.

\- Aaah, so you know what they are, but do you know the whole story?

\- No, and…

\- Do you wanna know what I've been up to this last two years, child?

\- No, but I feel that you're gonna tell me anyway.

\- I've been trying to create a ghost-hybrid of my own by all possible means to create an army of human-ghosts. Unfortunately the conversion process still has some bugs I need to work out, and these specimens rather than being the perfect combination of human and ghost DNA like you, are nothing but abomination, much better than my first attempts though, and even these mishaps are still useful to me. And soon the city and its inhabitants shall be the firsts hybrids of my armada, that when I get what I came to look for.

\- You WHAT?! – yells Danny furious with his eyes glowing so intensively, almost blazing through his slanted lenses. His face even takes a devilish appearance because of it. - You turned humans into these monsters!? What have you done? Why would you even do that for? Why would you want to have army of hybrids?

\- Isn't obvious? It took me a while to realized how linked our worlds are, that they have always been and will be one and the same, just like you. And to conquer just one, would be like conquering neither. And to seize control over both worlds I needed an army from both worlds.

\- Ooooh… You are so FUCKING dead!

\- Ah-ah. Watch your mouth child. Just because we're rated PG 13 doesn't mean we can swear all the time.

\- You're gonna pay for this – yells flying as fast as he can, with his fists charged with ecto-energy – and for breaking the fourth wall for no reason.

Danny punches Technus out of the restaurant through the roof, so fast that none of his partners were able to react until he was floating in front of them.

Using his full strength, Danny delivers a roundhouse kick to Skulker in the face the second he pounced on him.

Moving in circle, he dodges the blade of Ember's double edged axe-guitar and blasts her in the chest.

\- All right freaks, which one of you is up for a second round?

Unexpectedly, a cold shiver goes down Danny's spine warning him about Spectra's incoming attack from behind, and so does his tracker, just in time to gracefully elude her nail claws, circling her and hitting her shoulders, knocking her to the ground.

_"Hell yeah! I'm moving much faster than them, faster than I ever did in my life. It's almost like watching them in slow motion. And my strength? I never thought I had so much power in my body, and this is just the top of the iceberg._

_"I guess this is how they felt when they were kicking my ass. But now I've leveled the game with this suit and it's time for some payback."_

\- Not so tough now that I don't have any pain for you to feed, eh?

From the corner of his eyes, he sees a green sword coming at him. He instinctively block it with his left forearm.

The blade of the sword strongly rubs against Danny's metallic forearm guard generating green sparks.

\- A sword? That's so last millennium. Everything is about ghost rays now – states Danny blasting the Fright Knight in the face. – You see?

\- As a matter of fact… I think I do!

The Fright Knight buttered, assailing Danny with a powerful optic ghost ray with enough power to blow the roof. Instinctively, he shields himself with a repulsion field instead of simple ghost shield defecting the attack.

A pink anti-ghost ray from Skulker touches Danny's hair.

_"Ok, think this through, the suit makes me twice stronger than usual, but he still knows all of my movements and tactics. So_ _… I_ _gotta use some new tricks. But first I gotta break their unit. Get rid of their numeric edge, 'cause let's face, even with this suit I can't deal with all of them at once, not again. And even if I can I don't wanna push my luck."_

\- Ok, let's take this outside, Skulker!

Moving swiftly, he takes Skulker by the tail throwing him out of the restaurant, flying after him at full speed.

Concentrating and solidifying his energy in his hands, Danny starts throwing ecto-energy shurikens at Skulker, but he manages to dodge them all as he flies towards Danny, releasing an energy chain from the top of his hand to bound him.

\- You think that just because you got a new outfit too you can deal with us? Not unless you unleash all that unlimited power you have, and you can't do that without dying.

\- You think I need my head in fire to be unleashed?! - Danny breaks the chain with no effort, grabbing Skulker's head to knee it repeatedly. – Next time you should put a nose on this face so I can break it. Maybe one like Kevin Bacon's nose.

In that moment, a plasma canon emerges from Skulker's chest and shoots Danny at close range, severely hurting him. Then, Skulker punches Danny in the stomach.

\- Getting slow too soon, kiddo.

\- And you're getting old Skulker.

Danny grabs Skulker's arm and quickly twists it.

\- What's the matter? You can take a dog ripping off your arm but not a simple arm twist?

\- I'll show you…

\- No, you won't – Danny claims blinding him with an intense light coming from his eyes.

Skulker moves backward with his hands in his eyes, roaring enraged, waiting for his eyes to adjust.

\- Dude, you fell with the same trick three times in the same day. I can't believe that for a moment I got to think of you as real threat.

\- You stupid child. I am Skulker, the apex of apex predators! I-

\- You are hanging way too much with Technus - claims surrounding him with ten clones.

The Danny's attack him suddenly from all directions, easily overcoming him.

_"Looks like he wasn't programmed to fight ten Danny's at the same time. Good thing I never overused my form duplication. Let's see for how long they can keep him busy."_

The clones beat Skulker using their full strength, having the edge at the beginning of the fight, till he decides to take back pulling out his energy claws and starts stabbing them in the stomach, chest and head, one by one until there was only three clones left. He fights two of them unable to strike them, forgetting about the third clone that blasts him in the back using both hands to create a white ghost ray, sending him far away from the restaurant.

\- Ok, that's one less… - the real Danny says floating above the racked restaurant, absorbing his two clones - for a while. Just five to go. But I can't just break in like that, this time I need a real plan. Let's see, Technus said their weapons had a short-life battery and Ember was the power source. So I have to get rid of her first before she starts playing her empowering music, but even though Spectra can feed on my pain and Skulker still has the energy he absorbed from me and the medieval duo doesn't really need her. Her energy is a bonus for them. So I guess it's ladies first - said Danny with his next movement decided.

Swiftly, the Fright Knight hurls a massive energy wave at Danny who rapidly dodges the attack only to become the prey of a herd of Technus' hybrids who easily put him back on the ground.

The threats counter indicates a number of 23 ghost-zombies.

\- Ok guys, if you can hear me, I'm deeply sorry for this.

Danny kicks the hybrids he had atop enhancing his kick with his ghost energy and blasts the ones holding his arms, getting back on his feet generating a repulsion field, killing all of them.

The threats counter reads: " 23 Threats Eradicated. 4 Threats Left behind the subject" as his ghost sense streams out of his mouth.

\- Four threats left? I thought there were just twenty-three…? Ooooh… right, them.

A sonic wave from Ember's guitar hits him in the back. Quickly he gets kicked in the face by Spectra, hitting one of the tables left in the place.

\- What's this? Female solidarity?

\- You can say that – answer both at the same time.

\- You know I would love to fight you both but I have a schedule to keep.  _Tell me Gas, does this utility belt have that can be useful here?_  – He asks to in G.A.S.P.E.R. his head

\- Yes it does.

A list of all the gadgets in his belt appears on his lenses.

– Oh, detonation cord, I love the sound of that.

In a quick hand movement, he produces an intense white glint from his hands that blinds Ember and Spectra, and pulls out a long metallic black rope from his belt very fast. Eagerly, he flies around them and ties them with it.

\- You know, I think you girls are really bound to each other. Actually I think you make a really cute couple… you know, if we oblivious the fact that you are a cougar - said to Spectra - and you have a real need for attention - said to Ember. - But well, we all got issues.

Ember and Spectra wring in a vainly attempt to break free growling at him.

Danny cuts the rope's link from his belt, swings it and throws them away of the wrecked restaurant with all his strength. Seconds later the rope that binds them explodes.

"2 Threats Eradicated" reads his threat counter.

\- You know, when you said you'll break their unity, I didn't think you'll be throwing them away like this.

\- Well, what do you expect from me? I'm making this plan as I march, I'm improvising here. Besides, I like to keep it simple. Now, where is that stupid attempt of king and the rejected cast member from Sleepy Hollow? – asks, seeking around in the remains of the restaurant with is scanners and his infrared vision. And right away he gets struck in the face by Aragon's tail.

\- You know, of all the peasants I have beheaded you shall be the one I enjoy the most.

-Ok, first of all I'm not sure you said it the right way - said on the floor fixing his broken nose -, and secondly, it ain't happening! - Danny phases into the ground and assaults Aragon from beneath with a bright blue ghost ray. – He seems much smaller now, just what I need, a size shifting dragon. Just hope he can't get even bigger than before. How much of this explosive cord do I have left?

\- About 300 miles.

\- Oh, I so love it.

The Fright Knight attacks him with a ghost ray from his sword as soon as Danny gets solid again.

– Ah, you do realize that you are fighting with a dragon here? – asks as he removes the wall chunks off his back. – I mean, you are a knight. You should fight him and not me instead, like, you are natural enemies.

\- I admit this alliance with that scaled scum has me nauseated, but the sole idea of thrusting my sword though your heart as you exhale your last painful and mournful breathe… it makes up for anything – states as he approaches to Danny wielding his shield and brandishing his sword bursting in green flames. – Any last word, ghost kid?

-  _Gad! Gad! Gad!_  Gad's the only thing I can think of… Uh… you won't recite a poem about killing me or something?

\- There's a time for reciting poems and a time for fists. As far as I am concerned, this was the latter.

\- You know, I couldn't agree with you any more. Let's go fisting! Ok, that came up wrong.

In a fast movement they hurl at each other. Danny's fist glow green and smolder as he punches the Fright Knight in the face, dodging his blade.

He punches the Fright Knight again in the ribs and the stomach. This one punches him back even harder and knees him in the jaw with all his strength.

\- Is that it? – Asks Danny getting on his feet with his hands burning in ghost energy and his mouth bleeding ectoplasm.

\- Indeed! – Aragon emerges from above crushing him against the floor with his claws glowing white.

\- Damn it, I can't go intangible! Fuck! I forgot you can do that now.

\- Yeah, what a greater irony than a ghost that gets touched by another ghost.

\- …Ok… I so don't like what you said and I think it's an innuendo for something I so don't want to be part of. If I could only…

Danny tries to break free but the dragon's grasp was even stronger now.

\- You got stronger again?

\- Yea. Who knew the armor made by this stupid craftsman works better… when I take a less ominous form - explains taking his dragon-hybrid from, strangling Danny with his claw.

\- You might not be so ominous now but you're still uglier than hell - Danny joked striving to breathe. - And I know how to counter your little trick - claimed turning into a blue fog one more time.

But the moment he materializes he gets struck in the back by the Fright Knight, and falls on his knees.

His eyes glow behind the slanted eyes of the mask as he roars at them in pain and rage.

\- I love when he throws us those spooky eyes - laughed the Fright Knight.

Furious, he bustles and strikes Aragon in the face with an uppercut, making use of all his strength and eagerly blasts the Fright Knight with a powerful streaming green plasma ray from his eyes, intensified by the convex form of the lenses.

\- Great! I've never been able to do this before - said to his enemy. - If having a broken core means getting new powers, I guess ot doesn't look so bad, got it? "Look" so bad.

\- God, suppress me now - muttered Gas in awe for such a bad joke.

\- You fool. I'll show you what real power looks like - blurted the Fright Knight, getting on his feet despite the attack.

This one fights back with his own ghost ray vision.

Both forces struggle to overcome each other, but equal in power, the struggle was tight.

Rising his claws, Aragon attacks Danny in the back with his ghost stinger rendering him and easy pray for the Fright Knight's rays.

Victim of a powerful ghost stinger and a devastating ghost ray, Danny falls on his knees, roaring in pain. His goggles screen fill with static.

Concentrating his ghost energy in the form of burning plasma balls in his hands, Danny scorches Aragon's arm, and tosses him at his partner in crime.

\- Ha, you got burned!

Moving hastily and completely healed, he attacks Danny with his razor sharp wings cutting the titanium nano-fiber and liquid diamond fabric of his suit with relative ease, leaving a shallow scratch in the titanium-daimond alloy chest piece.

\- Wow. Ok, you got some seriously sharp wings, you know that? - pointed out with his suit regenerating itself. - But I got an amazing self-regenerative suit! Sweet!

\- Hey Danny, look at this - said G.A.S.P.E.R.

\- What?

\- His wing, it lost it sharp when he cut the suit - said amplifying the image of Aragon's right wing on a microscopic level while analyzing his wings. - It appears his are made of organic metal but they don't have the same regenerative qualities than the rest of his body, or the suit or Skulker's armor. They're more like… dead tissue. Which sounds redounding since he is a ghost.

-  _So what? You are saying that if he cuts the suit enough times his wings are going to lose their sharp edge?_ \- he asked dodging the Fright Knight and Aragon's blows.

\- It sounds like a plan to me, sir. A very risky one if I must say.

-  _Which means it will work._  All right, let's do this!

A barrage of energy waves comes from the Fright Knight, but he quickly dodges them, only to get stricken in the chest by Aragon and tossed around the walls. His strength was too much for Danny despite being twice stronger and he had to get him to use his wings on him to take away his edge.

\- Ok, my turn - he yelled grabbing his arms and kicking his face with his steel boots getting free of his grasp. - Is that all you got? You know, I thought you were going to be a real threat this time, but the best thing you did was cutting my suit, and you couldn't even do that right. My suit is mocking you.

\- You dare… to insult ME?!

\- Yes… I sure do - mocked Danny looking at a live scan of his brain. - " _Ha, dragon's brain the same as lizard's brain chemistry, equal to little thinking and a lot of anger to play him with."_  Come at me! See what happens! - yelled with open arms, waiting for his onslaught.

Aragon flies and assails him using his wings, striking and slaying him with all his strength.

Slay after slay, slash after slash… every cut was more deepless than the other. And with every attack his wings would lose more and more sharp until he realized he couldn't cut him anymore.

\- Oooh, check it out. Somebody lost his edge by cutting through titanium nano-fiber fabric bounded with an alloy of regenerative techno-organic metals malleable diamond-hard liquid crystals.

\- Don't forget the titanium-daimond chest piece - remind him Gas.

\- And a titanium-daimond chest plate. Now all you got is your little dragon fire.

\- I got more than that!

Flying at full speed, he strikes him in the chest taking his wind out.

The suit's fabric and the chest armor plating protect him from the worst part of the attack, Danny could still feel the terrible and devastating punch of the dragon king. The overwhelming force breaks the wall behind him and with a second blow he is sent through the wall.

\- I say is time we get this done - he claimed assuming his dragon form.

\- I agree.

Getting his air back, he seizes him hastily, getting inside the ruins of the restaurant, dealing dreadful blows that would prove lethal on other opponents but that can barely harm Aragon.

Using his tail, he bundles his neck and throws him at the Fright Knight.

\- Be glad little champion. Not all of my foes get to die by my edge of blade – states walking towards Danny holding up his sword. - In fact, this honor is even greater as you get to be the first victim of my new blade, the first soul I shred with my new Soul Shredder!

_"Damn it Danny, think, think, think. I can't dodge his sword forever, and even if I could, I can't fight with Aragon, not now he knows how to use his new power. Unless…"_

Thinking faster than he has never done before, Danny finds a solution for his situation, and at the last second he pulls Aragon by the tail and uses him as a shield. The second the Soul Shredder gashes Aragon's body, he suffers the same fate of everyone who feels the stinger of the Fright Knight's blade. He is sent to a dimension he all his worst fears come to life.

The Fright Knight raises his sword over his head one more time thanking Danny for sparing him the need of doing it later, and swings it aiming for Danny's heart with no lateness, seeking for his demise, but his blade is hold still over the head of his prey.

With staggering reflexes, Danny grips the Soul Shredder in mid air with both hands, much to the Fright Knight surprise.

The two of them struggle with all the strength of their muscles, but Danny can scarcely hold the sword away from him as his foe barely strives for it to gash his flesh and slay his heart.

\- It certainly brings some memories, doesn't child?

\- Memories? Sure, the frost time I fought you. How could I forget that. If I only had a pumpkin near.

-But look around you! There aren't any pumpkins here to spare your life – states drawing his sword nearer to Danny's chest, forcing him to kneel down. - There is nothing to save you.

Pushing even harder the Fright Knight's sword gets closer to Danny's body.

Tensing his muscles, Danny uses his ghost stinger on the Soul Shredder, releasing such amount of electricity that not only the Fright Knight was unable to withstand it but also short-circuited his shield causing it to explode.

\- Looks like you should stay in the old school. Honestly it suits you better.

\- I'll admit it… You are a braver warrior than I ever thought you were – states the Fright Knight, wounded and lying on his knees. - But we both know that it was not me who affrights you. No, that who lurks in the darkest corners of your sleep, appalling your heart, and twisting your dreams into dreadful nightmares every night is someone closer to you, isn't? – Danny presses his fist angrily emanating ghost energy. – Someone you care deep inside your heart, but you refuse to believe what your dreams tell you, and what you've seen with your own eyes – the Fright Knight chuckles painfully, holding his ribs. – Denial is the greatest lie we can ever tell to ourselves, and the best way to run away from the fear and the truth, but you can only run away so much until you fall and finally realize that you never ran away indeed and that you never stand a chance of escaping, that you were always in the same place.

Rageful, Danny fires a white ghost ray at the Fright Knight, but he escapes in a herd or bats, teleporting away from him.

\- Can I know what was all that about? – asks G.A.S.P.E.R.

\- Not your problem - answered angrily - And most important, where is Technus?! Last time I fought them, he was there to watch me lose, but now he is not even here to do that. Like if he is not the one who wants my head the most.

\- Maybe he's doing something else

\- Like what?

While trying to think what was Technus up to, his thoughts are abruptly interrupted by the roar of thunders.

 


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight:

The Day That Never Comes, Part 8 Singing in the rain

11:44 PM UTC

Apace, Danny flies out of the restaurant once again to encounter with Ember waiting for him above in the rainy greened sky.

\- What 'sup weather girl? Feeling like singing in the rain?

\- You call that a joke?

\- Well if you didn't like that, maybe this will be a hit – states, punching her with a giant ecto-energy fist.

\- That joke was even worst – says G.A.S.P.E.R.

\- Shut up.

Promptly, Ember assaults him with a giant skeleton hand, slamming him to the ground.

Danny halts just seconds before hitting the ground and flies straight to Ember, leaving a green energy contrail behind him, but he is stopped by a giant thorax made out entirely of ectoplasmic energy that appears out of the blue.

\- Wow… Just… wow… - says Danny astounded by the image lying right in front of him.

Standing before him, there was a 50 meters skeleton composed by green ghost energy, wearing a worn leather vest and pants; controlled by Ember's music.

\- That's… quite a trick the one you have there – utters Danny between nervous chuckles.

\- And you know what the best part is?

\- That he is a good guy? That he is my biggest fan? Got it? Biggest fan? I'm good.

\- Oh no, this babe is bad to the bone! – claims, playing a chord in her guitar.

Following her musical command, the skeleton strikes Danny with all its strength.

– See? That's how you make a joke.

\- How? By knocking people so they won't notice how bad it was? – asks Danny trying to stay away from the skeleton's punches. – Isn't that just bullying?

-Don't know, don't care.

Ember starts playing a new song with her guitar to control her skeleton's movements until it finally captures Danny with both hands.

Danny tries to escape but his efforts were useless. The skeleton's grip was way too much for him.

\- Ok, what you gonna do now? Squeeze me like a zit?

\- That's actually a good idea – states Ember with a big smile in her face. – But no, I have something much better waiting for you.

\- A whole day in a spa?

\- A day in a spa?

\- What? I've had rough week and I can't feel back anymore.

\- Well, let my friend here give you a backrub then.

The skeleton raises its hand and smashes Danny against the floor.

\- There goes my neck – said Danny sore in mockering tone as he tussles to break free.

\- You can quit that now. This babe's grip is a hundred time stronger than you.

\- Well if can't break free, then I'll just have to let myself go with the wind – Danny turns into a blue mist and slips through the skeleton's hand. – I guess you didn't see that coming, eh? – asks reforming his body, floating in the skeleton's face.

This promptly smashes him with both hands like a fly.

\- Ok, I gotta remember not do stand in front of a giant again – says Danny to himself, dizzy. - In that moment, the giant skeleton roars releasing a swarm of enormous skeleton-like mosquitoes. – Oh, no mosquitoes. Why does it have to be mosquitoes? Why?! – asks with desperation, flying away from the swarm and shooting them one by one.

\- Mosquitoes? What are you talking about? – points out G.A.S.P.E.R.

\- Really?! Can you see the big mosquitoes swarm coming at us?

Danny flies away from them, when, out of the blue, a wall of mosquitoes appears in front of him, blocking his way out. Quickly, Danny is surrounded by thousands of mosquitoes with red glowing eyes.

\- I assume this suit doesn't come with a giant repellent, does it?

\- This isn't Cleft the Boy Chin Wonder's suit. But instead it can tell you things aren't real.

-What do you mean?

\- I mean this - said opening a window with a zoom in of the ghost bugs -, there is nothing there. Whatever you're fighting isn't real. Is in your head.

\- Of course. I'm such an idiot. Her main power is hypnotic music. This is clearly her hypnotism improved by her new guitar. Please tell me the big guy is also a fake.

\- Sorry, he is real.

The ghost mosquitoes fire a powerful red ghost ray from their eyes at the same time, and even when they're not real, their blast is felt like the fire of the sun.

\- I thought you said they were fake?

\- They are. Her music has hypnotized your nervous system so it could feel whatever illusion she makes as real whether you know is real or not.

\- Well, you're linked to it. Do something!

\- I can turn off you pain receptors and clear your optic nerves from the fake signals so you can only see what's real. But you still have a skeleton of 164 in the loose who wants to eat you.

\- You are a half empty glass kind of software, aren't you?

\- Maybe, yes.

\- I'm so changing your programming. Now, how do I deal with a giant skinless dancing Evil Ernie made out of ghost energy?

\- Did you know that the shinbone is actually a very fragile bone? Is like the most fragile bone of all.

\- Is that so? And what am I supposed to do? Punch it till it cracks?

\- You haven't tried that? Besides it's been standing there motionless since it puked those bugs. Weird right?

\- Yeah, pretty weird? You know, I think I'm gonna try to hit that thing, no pun intend.

At full pelt, Danny hurls aiming for the shinbone, creating a giant ecto-energy bat with nails and the words "kiss it" written on it.

Danny bludgeons the bone so hard that it cracks at the very first assault as his muscles ache and his bones rattle to its marrow. He has never hit anything that hard before in his entire life, as well as he has never heard anything roar as hard as the giant skeleton when he struck his leg, and yet, he swings his bat again and again, every time, even harder and harder than before until the bone shatters to pieces.

The monster falls on his one good knee trying to capture Danny with his left hand but he smashes the hand as soon as it moves.

\- You know, that's why I always drink three glasses of milk every day – he swing his bat one last time to break the skeleton's skull.

Gathering all the strength of his muscles, he pounds the skull so hard that the shockwave blows the windows from every building near them and the whole skeleton is torn asunder.

\- Ha! Looks like there was nothing to fear about this guy – states Danny gloating promptly over his victory.

\- You shouldn't celebrate victory so fast.

\- Huh?

\- Look at the bone pieces.

The smile on Danny's face fades quickly before the most unexpected sight.

Each bone splinter turns into a ghost skeleton that hustle at him, forming a large skeleton swarm.

With hands sharp as knives, they follow him as a pack of hungry wolves unhinged for his blood.

\- Why I can't catch a fucking break?

\- Oh, don't worry, you will. I'll make sure of that.

\- Damn it, this is worst than "Doomed: The Inferno Protocol". I hate those assholes who came up with the idea using the horde mode – Danny complained about the game while trying to escape from the horde that was on his tail, cracking several skulls with his bat. – I so hate the horde mode. Agh, these things are stronger than they look – comments, struggling to break free of their grasp – it's like playing that stupid game over again.

Before he can realize, Danny is overwhelmed by the awful amount skeletons and is dragged down to the bottom of the swarm.

Ember smiles, watching from above, how her horde of skeletons buries Danny, with great ecstasy before what she has accomplished.

\- I guess you've reached your limit, dipstick – states Ember gloating herself, but her joy goes as she gazes at the pile shuddering and exploding from the bottom with a great green blinding light.

\- Oh trust me darling, I'm far away from reaching my limits, haven't you read the title? – asks Danny in a powerful repulsion field, bursting like a supernova, destroying almost all of Ember's skeletons - I'm UNLIMITED! Now, if that was the last thing in your bag of tricks, you should be looking for your lover boy Skulker to help you. No wait, he is with your best friend now. And who's there to blame him, her new body is much hotter than yours. I should now.

\- That's it! YOU ARE DEAD! – shouts Ember enraged with her eyes glowing red and her hair blazing strongly.

Turning her guitar's neck into an ecto-shotgun, she starts shooting at will, powerful pink bolts of ecto-energy.

Moving gracefully in the air with swinging movements, he dodges every single blast, moving forward his enemy, and shoots her at blank point range in her face.

Severely injured, the rock star falls unconscious, with her face scorched.

\- Wow, looks like she is what you call a glass cannon. This must be why she didn't really fight me before… Gas, run a complete scan on this. Tell me how does it work.

\- Why?

\- Technus said she was the reason why they were so powerful at the pier. That she was their powersource since she could enhance other ghosts powers and he enhanced that ability. I need to know how he did it.

\- Well, here is how he did it: the seventh string in her guitar turns the kinetic energy into ghost energy - said playing a simulation on the lenses -, which fuels the guitar itself, and her. When using her empowering music, she feeds her teammates…

\- Using the energy she gets from her guitar. And the more music she played, the more power she had not only for her mates but for herself. Very tricky. Though it seems she wasted all in the big green guy. You know what I realized when I was inside the skeleton's pile?

\- That you are claustrophobic?

\- Ok, you know what else I realized down there?

\- That there are better kinds of superhero suits than the spandex ones.

\- No. I realized that they're playing along to my plan far too well. Soon, you gotta start a search for any ecto-signature in the area.

"Three ecto-signatures located" reads a heads up display with the location of all three on a map of the city.

\- That's weird. It says two of them are right behind me. Oh shit!

Danny turns around and sees Skulker who has been pointing at his head with an ghost-sniper rifle at his head for the last three minutes, in a top roof behind him.

\- Here you are, the kid who wanted to be a ghost. Let's see how good you are dodging an ectoranium laced bullet pointed right at your forehead.

Skulker pulls the trigger and fires his gun aiming for Danny's head. The hammer hits the needle; the explosion of gunpowder pushes the bullet out of the gun barrel followed by a strong roar that tears the sky, flying in rotational and translational motion, leaving a green trail behind it. Straight to its target it flies safely and secure in the air during its journey looking to tear the flesh of its prey.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine:

The Day That Never Comes, Part 9 Overkill

11:56 PM UTC

Moving faster than sound, the bullet is invisible for the human eyes, and any other day it would be the same for Danny's ghost eyes, but now his eyes are able to see more than they could. Now, as surprising as it is, his eyes can see even faster than bullets.

With reflexes never shown before, Danny grabs the bullet with his right hand without even stepping back, protected from the ectoranium effects by his suit.

Both, Danny and Skulker are shocked by such astonishing prowess.

\- No fucking way! – They both exclaim amazed.

\- Please tell me you got that on video, and seriously? A skull engraved on the bullet? You know, I think I've had enough of bones and skulls for a lifetime tonight. Though I reckon there is one more skull that I'd like to crack.

Danny hustles at Skulker's location quite swiftly as he turns his weapon into a machine gun loaded with the ecto-bullets he used earlier.

Hundreds of bullets are fired in a quick succession, but Danny dodges them all as he sees them coming in slow motion.

Moving straight ahead at his enemy, he grabs his weapon, crushes it with one hand and fires a ghost rays in Skulker's face.

\- How did you do that? How did you catch an ectoranium bullet straight to your head? – asks getting on his feet.

\- That? Ah. I just see faster than bullets now..

\- You what?! Doesn't matter, that doesn't make you invulnerable.

Skulker unsheathes his laser blades from his knuckles and metallic finger claws.

\- Oh, shining. - A list of the weapons integrated into the suit appears in the lenses-screen. - But I think you'll find me rather more cutting edge than you! – states Danny slicing Skulker's armor in the chest with his own set of finger claws at an astounding speed.

\- What?!

\- You impressed? Well, what can I expect from a low tech like you?

Danny kicks him in the chest with his foot loaded with ghost energy.

\- All right, that's how you wanna play? Then so be it. – Skulker pops out all his claws and blades from his armor, pulling out the blades from his forearms, his thighs and feet. - I think I have the edge now. And no one calls me a low tech!

Without hesitation, he jumps at Danny aiming for his head, but he dodges his attacks swiftly with swinging movements.

\- Ok, let see - said analyzing his armor and its weapons -, you have three tekko-kagi-like laser claws in each hand, there goes six. A ludicrously large pendulum blade coming along each arm and another two retractable blades on the top of each forearm, that makes it twelve - counts along with his scanner avoiding his attacks-, plus five claws in your hands and feet, as well as a knife in each foot. There we got thirty four, and another blade in each thigh for a total of thirty six. God, can you spell overkill?

\- Indeed I do! O-V-E-R-kill! – Skulker shouts trying to strike a blow at Danny's head but he promptly dodges the attack.

\- That's cheating, you know that? And I mean it. I mean carrying an exaggerated amount of weapons within your armor has always been part of your character, but this falls just downright in the absurd.

\- What fan-fiction have you been reading? - Asks delivering a lethal elbow strike in Danny's chest. – But now that I come to think about it, I think that a missing spike in the elbows is flaw by design.

\- Does it come with nuclear warming pants?

\- No. Why would it come with that?

\- No reason. Just heard of a snow storm coming. – Danny slashes Skulker in the crotch with his claws charged with cold energy, freezing his legs. – Something coming from down the south.

\- I think that's no problem.

Moving the blades in his thighs, Skulker breaks the ice that immobilized him.

\- So that's how those work. You guys really thought of everything, didn't you?

\- Oh we did – says electrifying his blades and claws.

\- You know two can play that game.

Danny extends his arms pulling out a guillotine blade and two swords from each one of his vambraces, energy push blades from the triangular plates on his gloves and hidden knives in his shoes. His right knee pad also grows three spikes, with the middle spike as the largest spike.

\- I think this will make thing a little more even.

\- Count again, I have three long blades in each arm, you only have two.

\- Why don't we just cut right to the part when I kick your butt? Got it? 'Cause I got shoe knives now… I thought it would be fun.

\- You think?

They pounce at each other at full speed, and even when they were only at three foot away from each other, the jump scene seems like they were ten foot away.

Skulker goes straight ahead, waiting for nothing, delivering powerful blows with his claws and blades. Danny dodges his attacks much easier than before, and slays his right arm with his push blade and arm sword, but the wound heals quickly.

Skulker kicks him with his feet-knife in the chest, smiling, thinking he got him, but the truth is he didn't even pierce the suit. His blades and claws, as sharp as they are, they are just not as sharp and hard as Aragon's wings and could not penetrate the almost indestructible and impenetrable fabric of the suit.

Danny exults for the resilience of his new outfit, and on how Skulker was unable to pierce it, feeding the flames of his wild tantrum.

Taking his lion form, he jumps on Danny ready to tear him apart with all his claws, and fangs. For Danny's eyes, he was acting like an animal, but he was more than that, he was the king of all beasts, the king of the jungle now, only that he was fighting guided by something different from his instinct. He assault was out of rage but guided by a computer that calculated all of his prays movements in less than a second, an intelligence beyond that of any living creature, that put him above any other predator."The apex of apex predators" he called himself, the ultimate predator made not by nature but by cold hearted science and built with breathing technology.

The setting was already played before his eyes a thousand time. All factors were coldly calculated, based on all his previous encounters, all his tactics were predictable now even without his prediction system. He had nothing that could protect him from that lion form, his ghost rays would be eaten, his ghost shield would break by the powers of his claws, and his strength and speed weren't enough to fight the blazing beast machine he had become, not even his cold energy could stop him now. But there were two new factors to consider that were outside his programming, factors he overlooked. One of them was Danny's new suit which not only made him stronger and faster but also came with weapons that none of them could think of and secrets not even Danny knew, and the other was something that Skulker left behind when putting his faith in his technology a long time ago, something that has proven to be above his prediction system, and more savage than him, something that not even the coldest of all sciences could predict as it was unpredictable: his instinct. And how would Danny's instincts affect this new suit that not even he knew at all? What would be its reaction be to his fear? What secret would it reveal to protect him?

Well here is one of the many secrets that the suit possessed: one of its many tools and weapons are four mechanical spider-legs, hidden within its metallic silver disk-backpack, and just like most things from the foundation, they were made out of a strange organic liquid metals, titanium and diamond alloy, very similar to the suit's fabric only but stronger. These legs could grow at the rate of 190 inches per second and more, and the command for growth is achieved via fast neural net-command, whether if it was by thought or instinct, and Danny's instinct was to keep Skulker away from him.

And skewered by the twenty feet long spider legs of the suit, he was already far enough for Danny to be safe from his claws.

\- Wow… that's… wow… - everything happened in less than a second, so fast that Danny was surprised and speechless. It took him a while to realize and processes what happened, and get out of the shock to utter a joke. - Oh great. Now I look like I'm copying Invader Zim, and I'm extraly convinced that Mr. M must be Johen Vasquez.

\- "Extraly" is not a real word - corrected him G.A.S.P.E.R. -, and you are welcome.

\- You did this?

\- What can I say? I'm a suit with a thousand wonders and a free bonus.

\- I thought you were just the suit's O.S.?

\- Yes. But I'm not just an operative system for a very state of the art suit made with the most advanced of all (paranormal) technologies. I'm also its conscience. The suit itself as lab made as it is, it's a living organism.

\- And you are its mind. That's gross.

\- You think that's gross? You put me on without taking a shower first. How about that? Your body is sweaty, your armpits suck… and you don't want to know what your butt smells like.

Skulker squirms to break free, growling and roaring like and angry and wounded lion.

\- Let me go you brat!

\- Ha, you say that like if you could do anything to force me.

Growling in anger, he pulls out his plasma cannon from his shoulders firing Danny with a great firepower.

Crossing his arms in an X form he summons a circular blue ghost shield that reflects the powerful blast like if it was from a common ghost.

\- You're losing your touch, buddy.

\- No, I just have to try with a different spectrum.

Changing the color of his blaster from green to pink, he fires once again a blast equally powerful only but of anti-ghost energy instead.

Danny summons his blue ghost shield again, but it lasts only seconds before the anti-ghost streaming ray.

The blast hits Danny, and the legs retract to their standard ten foot length letting Skulker free. The holes in his armors began to heal quickly, as he changes back.

Using his wrist cannon, he fires another anti-ghost ray at Danny, but thanks to his new mechanical spider legs and enhanced reflexes, he gets way up much faster than predicted.

Pulling out all of his plasma cannons, he fires an endless wave of anti-ghosts blasts. Moving gracefully with his legs, he eludes every single blasts in the air, almost like he was flying. The suit's neural interface made the use of the legs something almost natural for him, like if they were a real part of his body.

Taking out the big guns, Skulker uses his chest plasma cannon and combines the blasts of all his cannons into a single massive and streaming anti-ghost ray that Danny couldn't avoid. Rapidly, he turns intangible thinking he could phase through the blast, but the anti-ghost ray hits him anyway, severely hurting him, making him fall of the roof.

\- Stupid kid. You forgot we ghost can't phase an anti-ghost ray? - Skulker said looking at the side of the building where Danny fell.

\- Stupid frog. You forgot we ghost can fly? - replied Danny, hitting his face with his push blade.

He lands standing on his spider legs, uphold in a crouch position with his claws, blades and shoe-knives smoldering.

\- Gas, I want you to run a complete 3-D metric scan analysis on his armor. I want to know everything about it, EVRYTHING! How does it work, what are its strengths and weak points and most important, how can he use anti-ghost weapons.

Immediately, G.A.S.P.E.R. projects a blue ray from the joints of the insect legs, on Skulker's armor while it heals from the broken jaw, and in 2.36 seconds it had a complete analysis and scheme of his armor, its functioning and a list of all its weak points.

\- Bingo! - Looking at the flaws and weak points of his opponent armor, Danny formulated a plan in a matter of seconds, knowing what to do and how to exploit the fails to his advantage. - I think we should use more of that detonation cord, what do you say?

\- I say you are the boss. Whatever your plan is, you say dog and I'll fly.

\- I sure am the boss. Wait a minute where is Cujo?

Meanwhile, what's Cujo doing?

\- For the last time we asked you to go for help, not bring us half a chewed car - said K at Cujo, who found him and his partner stuck into the ground. - Who was the idiot who trained this dog? - inquired looking at all the useless stuff he brought them: parking meters, a movie theater chair, an old mattress, fancy silver, frog statues, a bird fountain and a inflatable doll.

\- Well, I don't know about you, but I'm keeping the doll and the chair if we get out of this - said his partner, J.

\- What's wrong with you? Did the explosion affected your brain? - In that moment Cujo barks and licks the outstanding part of his body. - That's it. I hate dogs.

Back to the fight…

Jumping with the incredible strength of his mechanical legs, Danny strikes Skulker in the chest even harder than before. He tries to whack him with his claws, but Danny dodged the attack using the spider legs, getting Skulker out of his game by moving and attacking him like he has never done before, delivering kicks and coups while flipping and swinging upheld by the legs which enhanced his superior agility even more.

Flying so fast not even the cyber eyes could see him, he ties and wraps Skulker legs with his detonation cord, throws him at the top of the next building, and triggers the rope.

Skulker gets up, tottering with his legs healing, only to see Danny flying at him with his sharp pointed spider legs using them as weapons, striking and piercing his knees and heels.

The armor heals from the damaged in seconds, and Skulker kicks Danny in the chest, and with that kick he knows his plan is working, as he feels how Skulker's feet and knees were uncleching.

\- Ha, joint fracture. Weak point number seven of your armor prototype.

\- What?

\- You didn't know that? You are wearing a prototype, one filled with flaws and weak points. Like the pieces used for the joints that are made of a very light and flexible though non-regenerative material unlike the rest of the armor, unfortunately it's also a very fragile material compared with the rest of you, and the constant impact caused by the kicking, punches and explosions creates microfractures, like in real bones, only that this won't heal. That also means that if I strike them with enough force they will break. Fatal mistake.

\- What?! You are lying. Technus said that they were ready for what we needed. And how could you even possibly know that?

\- Really? I wonder what where you thinking Technus? That I wouldn't get a new suit with scanner to analyze it and discover your flaws… Ok, maybe that's what you were thinking.

Oblivious to the damage of his knees and heels, Skulker keeps fighting him despite the clumsy movement of his armor, delivering direct blows at Danny who slides back by channeling his energy through his feet, dodging is attacks very easily.

\- You know, I think I have something you might like - said G.A.S.P.E.R. - Have you ever heard of the Leopard Style?

\- No, what's that?

\- I'll show you.

In that very moment, G.A.S.P.E.R. downloads all the knowledge of the legendary Leopard Style straight into Danny's brain, nervous system and muscular memory, all in the form of energy, making all the movements and techniques come to him as an instinct, a very vivid memory. In less than a second, the high technology makes Danny master of a martial art that would otherwise take him an entire lifetime to master in the traditional way.

\- Wooow… What was that? - inquires, dodging all of Skulker's blows even faster than before, in a crouch position with an electric tingling running through his body.

\- I just downloaded over twenty year Kung Fu training right into your brain, and muscular memory, making you essentially a master martial artist. A master of the Leopard Style, one of the fiercest Kung Fu styles of all. Now all those techniques will come to you as an instinct, like if you spent your entire life training at a Xiaoling temple.

\- So sweet! - yells blocking his opponent strikes, and hacking his right shoulder with his arm-swords the second he saw an opening, the same way a real leopard style fighter does. - Try to grow that arm, no wait, you can't. Flaw number six: your armor cannot regenerate missing limbs since this regenerative organic metal of yours can only regenerate the "living" pieces that are energized, and only when they are near or in direct touch with the energy. In other words, if you lose a piece is no longer has regenerative qualities.

\- That's it. You are meatloaf - replied firing his firearms.

\- Meatloaf? What's that supposed to mean? - asked behind a blue ghost shield that would resist the impact of the bullets. - And using all that peagentry to cover up for all your flaws and weak points. To lure my attention away from them… I should have seen right through that.

\- Yeah. Well soon I'm gonna be able to see right through you.

\- I can fix that.

Phasing into the roof, he takes him by the tail to bring him inside the building, and starts swinging him around the offices within.

\- You know, when I first saw your new outfit I thought to myself self, "damn he finally got some sense of style" - claims hiding with his invisibility -, but when Technus told me it was his creation I thought he finally got some sense of style - explained punching him in the stomach and the face.

Skulker uses his infrared vision and his ghost scanners to find him, but the search was futile.

\- But now that I know all your dirty little secrets, I know this clothing is a bigger cover-up for the second biggest flaw in your armor.

Tearing Skulker's vest like paper, he reveals the ribs shaped escape pipes from where his ghostly fire comes out.

\- You know, for anyone this fire pipes would look like a one way out for you ghostly fire, everything comes out, nothing comes in. But the truth is that anything can get through them, anything thin, long, sharp and fireproof, like my new indestructible insect legs - said getting his four insect legs inside the fire pipes and turning visible again.

\- What?! What are you doing?!

\- I'm killing your fire - said filling his armor with ghost fire extinguisher ecto-goo.

Using his only arm, Skulker takes Danny's right mechanical legs, defenestrates Danny and himself in a burst of anger.

\- That new suit of yours does a lot of things, but I wonder if it can save you from a hundred store height fall and a full blast in your chest?

\- C'me on, do it! Let's see if you have what it takes to finish the job?!

Pulling out his chest cannon, Skulker fires a powerful bright purple ghost ray, that passes through Danny's chest as he made a hole in it at the last second, and hits the ground making a huge crater on it.

\- Oh, do you know what you just did? You just wasted all the energy you stole from me, which mean that now you have nothing but your own energy left, and given that Skulker 2.0 is a waste of energy, it won't be for too long.

\- But it will last long enough.

Pulling out all the blades and claws of his left arm, he strikes him the chest, but Danny turns into blue mist, letting him fall.

\- Where is your prediction system now?

Using all his blasters and machine guns, he onslaughts Danny wit everything he had, but he avoids all of his attacks and ties him with more of his detonation cord, using it as a lasso and throws him at the nearest roof top, crashing him against a water tank and then triggering the explosive rope.

\- Ha! That what I call crash and burn, well more like crash drown and burn.

The armor begins to heal wasting most of its energy, whilst Skulker gets on his right knee raising his left hand with his machine gun, pulling out his shoulder missile launchers and his chest blaster firing all at once.

Danny phases through the green ghost ray, and dodges the bullets duplicating hid form and flying abreast around skulker, using his ghost rays to explode the missiles.

Followed by two missiles he fuses back with his clone and uses his improved telekinesis to stop them and grab them with his hands.

Skulker had no need of a prediction system to know what he was about to do.

Failing over him, Danny explodes the missiles on his armor.

The damage leaves the armor nearly destroyed, and all its energy is rapidly gone in a useless attempt of repairing itself.

Taking it by the ribs, Danny rips the tail apart, spreading all of its internal. Bio-mechanical components and ectoplasm. The skull was still attached to the tail, with skulker inside squirming and foaming.

\- Let me say it for you: "I'm Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter." Broken record buddy, broken record. - Swinging the tail with all his strength, he throws Skulker far, far away. - Ha! Another victory for me.

\- Should I remind you that there were two ghost in the area?

\- No… but thanks. I…

A blue wisp of breathe comes out of his mouth, his ghost sense warning him about a near ghost threat. His suit's scanners indicate two near ghosts, pointing their location on top of the next building, zooming in to get a better look.

\- Another two? Again? I'll guess, Spectra and… is that Ember? Think the girls are back.

\- What's going to be the plan now?

\- The plan is to get rid of them quickly so I can level up to the boss mode and get this over with tonight. Now let's finish them before she starts playing her guitar again.

\- Too late boss - said Gas, zooming into Ember's arm.

Playing a chord in her guitar, she uses her ghostly wail on Danny, wrecking the roof top he was standing on.

\- God-freaking-damn it! I forgot she copied my ghostly wail - retorted after hitting the ground.

\- Why do you think she didn't use it before?

\- I don't know. Poor planning? She was never up for crafty strategies - exclaimed, sore getting on his knees. - That's Technus area… and now the pain is gonna feed Spectra… Of course! I'm the biggest idiot ever!.

\- … There, there. Don't be so harsh on yourself sir.

\- No, you don't get it? The pain, it was all about it. The pain I felt for the explosion before the fight in the pier, the explosion wasn't meant to kill but to hurt me so she could be even stronger than me before it started.

\- It's "stronger than I".

\- The pain I felt when I fought Ember's monster which she knew I would beat, and the pain she caused me with her hypnosis, it must have been to feed her. All so she can come at me her peak.

\- Wouldn't that be redounding? With her empowering music she could make her stronger than you. Isn't that an…?

\- … overkill? Maybe. After the incident in the pier and the way I kicked them out of the restaurant I'm not surprised they come at me with everything - explained, taking height, avoiding Ember's second ghostly wail. - They probably won't wanna take any chances with me. I must assume they want this to be a quickie too. Ha-ha a quickie.

A small group ghost-zombie appear from the shadows, already in their ghost to join in their fight.

"46 threats detected" reads the threat counter.

\- Only 46? Looks like you guys ran out zombies. You know if your plan was to make a huge ghost zombie zombie apocalypse, you should have made a lot more zombies… ghosts. Do they even turn people with their bites?

\- Why don't you find out, my dear? - sad Spectra appearing next to Ember.

\- Hey mister, she got the hots for you - points out Gas.

-  _Yeah, I don't think so_. If your plan was to make me fight those zombies to get me tired I think you came up short handed.

\- Oh don't worry baby, we'll get more, much more! - claimed Ember playing a very fast riff in her guitar empowering the ghost-zombies so they can duplicate their form.

\- Oh crap! - yells watching the threats counter duplicating and triplicating while a huge swarm of ghost-zombies grows floating in the air to the point where his threat counter reads "Too many threats to count". - I think I just shit my pants.

\- That's it I'm calling M to tell him to make a new suit with a toilet built in.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten:

The Day That Never Comes, Part 10 All nightmare long

00:16 A.M. UTC

\- Ok, calm down. I'm just facing about four hundred ghozbies - claims scared shitless. - No biggie, I guess I just have to blow their heads one by one.

In that moment, the ghost-zombies unleash a rain of ghost rays upon Danny, fired from their mouth.

Immediately, he creates the strongest ghost shield he ever made, bright writhe in color, stopping the ghost rays but the constant fall of plasma rays makes it difficult for him to main it and takes a lot of his energy.

Phasing into the ground before his shield collapses, he escapes from the dreadful attack.

\- I'm so glad I didn't bring anyone with me - says phasing into a near jewelry -, I couldn't forgive if anything happens to them. But on the other hand, I wish I had an army with me. After all, I'm not an army of my own. - Points out watching the dreadful parade of hybrids flying and running through the streets, seeking for him, while hiding with his invisibility. Danny gasps in that moment. - Wait a minute! I might not be or have an army with me, but I can make an army of my own, or more like an army of myself. All right, time to test the new limits of my duplication power.

Closing his eyes, he pushes his duplication power to its limits, and creates forty five clones of himself.

\- Wow, that's awesome - exclaims looking at his clones. - I've never been able to make so many clones of myself. All right, let's get serious. We are outnumbered about ten by one. But we can outsmart them, but then again, their zombies, so they're not thinkers. I guess there's no need for a plan then, so… just make sure you hit straight between the eyes, punch their head real hard and kick them like there is no tomorrow, and just in case don't get bitten.

\- That's your plan to get rid of them? Just going all out war on them? - inquires Gas.

\- They're freaking ghost-zombies!

\- Yeah, what else can we do other than shooting them in the head? - agreed one of the clones.

\- We can rip their heads off. - Proposed another one, pulling out the blades.

\- See? This guys get me. All right, let's get moving. Let the good times roll!

\- Where the hell is he? He can't be that far! - shouts out Spectra.

\- Are you looking for me, sweetie? - asks a clone teleporting behind her.

\- Or for me? - asks another clone.

\- No, I'm quite is me she is looking for.

Said one of the many clones floating over her.

\- What the-? How can there be so many of him? - wonders Ember.

\- Simple. You attack me with a horde of "ghozbies", I fight back with a horde of me - explained the original with his clones side by side, with their fists smoldering, pulling out their blades or turning their vambraces into a larger revolver cylinder-like forearm guard.

\- Nice try my boy, but you are awfully outmatched - pointed Spectra with their horde of ghozbies forming back, behind her.

\- Well, we'll see about that. Now, for those of you who have lasted this long reading this, I recommend you to play the song this story arc is named after, during the next five pages. And if you don't have it, you got poor taste in music.

Hurling over each other, the army of clones collides against the horde of flawed ghost-hybrids, with no repress on their attacks.

The clones used their white ghost rays to disintegrate, decapitate or maim the empowered flawed hybrids, some of them taking them by the head and blowing it with their hands, other using their cylinder vambrace to fire multiple ghost rays at once, though some other preferred using their guillotine blades, arm-swords and push blades to decapitate and eviscerate every ghozbie they faced or simply smash their heads bare handed.

The synchronized threat counter of the Danny's indicates the number of threats they eliminated themselves and altogether, and after they eliminated hundred thirty-six ghost-zombies, it started reading the actual number of hybrids left, four hundred seventy-eight.

\- Ember, do something! - ordered Spectra. -

\- I'm trying! But in case you haven't notice they kill them faster than they can duplicate - yelled playing a riff even faster.

The Danny's cut the hybrids in half with their energy blasts and blades without even breaking a sweet, as they fall upon them. It was a massacre like no other. Just a horde of simple minions like always, dumb and mindless, but their task quickly began to get harder and harder as they started fighting back. It seemed the ghost-zombies where getting smarter in the middle of that mayhem, it almost seemed like they were fighting with a strategy, and soon the ghostly undead started spiraling around them, like a storm of ghosts, corning all the Danny's in the middle, shooting them with their mouths, eyes and claws.

\- Guys, I think the ghozbies have changed their tactics - points out one of the clones.

\- I can see that - answers the original.

Promptly, they summon a ghost shield over their head to stop the blasts.

\- Does anyone know what happened here?

\- I think I do - utters the original Danny who notice how Ember was playing a riff much slower than before. - It's Ember. She is using her hypnotic music to control the mindless ghost-zombies. But I thought she couldn't control ghosts?

\- Maybe she is controlling the human side of their brains, or more like whatever is left of it - proposed a clone.

Hurling on groups upon them, the hybrids started pounding the ghost shield, trying to break through.

\- What are we gonna do now? - asks a clone.

\- Isn't obvious? We fight, only that this time, we go out with a plan.

\- That's what I told you, but you wouldn't listen me.

\- Shut up Gas! - utter all at the same time.

Pounding all at once, they manage to break through the ghost shield, only to get caught in a green burning glow.

"237 Threats Eradicated. 241 Left" reads the threat counter.

\- What the hell happened now? - asks Spectra.

\- Is a hybrids sweet sixteen birthday party - replies Ember with derision. - How am I supposed to know?

In the explosion, only one Danny was left and he quickly starts flying in a futile attempt to get away from the ghozbies, followed b a huge cloud of the remaining ghozbies.

He shoots them in the head using his cylinder vambrace, which fired his ghost rays through twelve cannons and not his hands instead in a very quick succession, almost like a machine gun, eliminating them very fast, but it was almost useless, as the number kept growing.

Crashing against a billboard of himself, Danny gets caught by the rotten who fly relentless at him, taking the billboard with them. He kicks them wit his shoe-knife and slays them with his arm-swords, spinning like tornado to get out of the swarm, with his right arm across his face and his left arm on his waist holding a ghozbie head, glowering at the rest with his eyes glowing through the goggles.

Channeling his energy through his swords he unleashes a double energy wave that cuts the hustling horde in half only to get haunted by two in both sides.

He hides from them using his invisibility, and reappears on the streets. The ghozbies run at him as soon as they see him.

\- Wait for it - he for mumble with his right hand behind him as they get closer. - Wait for it - repeats, with his eyes glowing blue.

With the horde at only twenty three feet away from him as indicated by his scanners he waves his right hand unleashing a huge cold energy wave creating a immense sharp ice shards barricade rising from the floor, and all the ghost-zombies in their impulse crash against it, getting skewered and meeting their true end, crushed by weight of the massive construction when collapsing over them.

\- No, no, NO! - yelled Ember trying to bring them back with her music, but before she even thinks what to play, her strings are cut by the real Danny with his push-blade using his invisibility.

\- I bet you didn't see that coming. Now you got no zombies to fight your battles for you, and without your seventh string you cannot empower Spectra or yourself. Watcha gonna do now?

In that moment her hair becomes a very large flare, as she starts growling, turning her guitar into an axe with blazing blades.

Striking his chest with her axe, she onslaughts him with a powerful red energy wave that takes his wind out and buries him three feet underground.

Mad at him, she assails him with a series of energy waves burying him even deeper til Spectra halts her remind her she no longer had her seventh string and she had to save the energy she had left.

And she was right as Ember got struck in the face by a streaming white ghost ray coming from the hole Danny was in. Using his ghost shield he protected himself from the barrage of energy waves Ember threw at him, and waited to get his air back. Teleporting behind a distracted Spectra, he cuts her with his arm-swords charged with cold energy causing a frozen wound.

Is not that he was sure it would work, but the results were better than he expected even though she was starting to heal back really quickly and melting the growing ice in her wound.

She glowered at Danny with glowing eyes pulling out her nail-claws, blazing with the same black acid fire her hair was made off.

They both hustle at each other, striking blows with all their strength; Danny blocks her nails-claws with his swords but she quickly twists his arm with them and kick it with her sharp hills thinking she could pierce him and freeing her arm. Swinging at him, she nudges him in the chest with all her strength sending him into a car dealership.

Pouring herself into the concessionaire through the window, like a stream of black fire, she starts seeking for Danny among the cars, stopping only to stare at her reflection, beholding her new body in the window of a yellow and black color schemed 2008 Camaro.

Posing in very seductive ways, she takes a look at her back, glazing her new perfect butt, then lifting her already big breasts, to make them look even bigger, glancing at them, thinking whether if she should ask Technus for bigger boobs or not.

\- No, you are fine dearie - says to her boobs. - In fact, you are more than fine, you are perfect. Tell me what man or woman wouldn't want to hit that?

\- You're right. Who wouldn't? - Agreed Danny showing up from nowhere, hitting her with a large energy hand, tossing her at a blue and red flaming truck. - Although I always thought silicone parts are made for toys.

Spectra melts her way out of the truck with her hair, foaming in rage and suddenly attacks him with a big purple energy hand of her own, shaking him all over the place and then pushing him against the wall. Hustling, she straddles on his legs getting really close to him, taking him by the shirt part of his suit.

\- Ah-uh… are we gonna make out again? 'Cuz I'm kinda getting that vibe - asks Danny with a nervous chuckle and a shit-eating nervous grin.

\- You would like that, wouldn't you? - inquires with a very seductive voice.

\- Ah… I have a girlfriend, so I don't feel comfortable answering that honestly… But if my life wasn't at stake right now, I would probably get a bonner.

\- If…? - asked with a suggestive tone.

\- Yeah, if.

\- Sir, as your pants, let me tell you, there is no "if" here.

\- You shut it, Gas.

\- Are you listening voices in your head?

\- Not your business

\- Technically it is. I'm therapist, remember? Come on kid, you can talk it all out with me. And everything that happens will remain just between us - said getting even closer to Danny, in a suggestive tone, touching his hearth. - Oh, I wish I could eat your cancer.

\- For god's sake! Is this why you blasted me out first?! - asks Ember appearing behind Spectra. - You know, you two should get a room, 'cause I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going.

\- Ember! I swear this is not what it looks like and - wait a minute I don't have to explain myself to you, I don't to explain anything to you!

Waving his left arm, he strikes Spectra off his legs and flies out with his ghost tail followed by Ember's pink ghost rays.

\- Oh great! See what you did? You let him go. I had him in my hands and you made me lose him. I was about to finishing him and you…

\- Yeah right.

\- What's that supposed to mean?

\- I think you know what that's supposed to mean.

\- Oh, but I want to hear it from you to see if I got it right.

\- You were about to kill him as much as I am about to win an Oscar for best original song for a movie. It was clear you wanted another nibbling kiss, am I right?

\- Excuse me? There was no biting, just a lot of tongue, and that's not where this was going.

\- Like you weren't sending that "let's make out" vibe. My glob you have boyfriend.

\- Skulker? Please, he is just an over grown and glorified sex toy I keep in my shelf. Unless… you're zealous, aren't you? - asked grinning a shit-eating grin.

\- Me zealous of you two? Oh please. I rather lower myself by dancing naked on a pole again than by feeling jealous of you.

\- Well, is good to se that teenage angst has paid off well. It must have killed you when I went to space - said with gleaming grinning eyes.

\- Ah… are you gonna fight me or you gonna fight each other? - asked Danny with his head on the window, very confused.

\- SHUT UP! - they both yell glowering at him, and blasting him with their eyes.

He rapidly hides his head behind the wall, scared shitless by the female cholera he just witnessed.

\- Wow, that was creepier than when I accidentally phased into the bathroom and Jazz was… Yeah, maybe not.

\- He's right we shouldn't be fighting, we should fight him. - pointed Ember. - And for the record it didn't kill me when you went to space.

\- Sure deary.

Quickly, they both go out to the street to fight Danny.

\- So, you decided to take it outside? - inquired floating over the building.

\- Yes, we have.

Waving her left clawed hand, she attacks him with five sharped purple energy waves coming from her claws.

Danny dodges two of them but gets hit by the other three.

Flying hastily, Ember hits him with her axe-guitar in the face, slashing his chin and nose. When lifting her axe to hit him one more time she gets blasted in the stomach. Luckily for Danny, Gas was still blocking his neuron pain receptors, which prevented Spectra from zesting on the pain he should feel by his wound.

Hurling eagerly at Danny, Spectra hits him in the stomach while he covered his face, and elbows him in the back, slamming him against the ground. Danny phases it disappearing from her sight and reappearing over her head with his arm-sword aimed at her head. With nimble movements she eludes his attacks swinging over his shoulder to kick him in the back, but he uses his mechanical spider-legs to stop her attack and throws her at the tenement roof with Ember.

Hustling at them with his push and guillotine blades and claws smoldering, he attacks them delivering direct blows at Spectra with devastating force which are even more lethal thanks to his push blade and claws. Spectra heals quickly from her black fire bleeding injuries and manages to hold her own against this new Danny much faster and stronger than before, blocking half his blows, while Ember savagely attacks him with her axe-guitar, but he blocks every assault with ease, using his spider-legs almost like swords.

With his right shoe-knife, he unintentionally rags her shirt and undergarment when trying to kick her guitar off her hands, leaving her topless, with her beautiful firm breast exposed to the chilling air which erected her nipples.

Both, Danny and Spectra are speechless by Ember's nudity. Ember's face was deadpan. Danny's mouth works without saying a word while Spectra throws a half jealous, half grin glance at her naked body.

-… Uh… I… I swear that… that was not my intention. I just… uh… I just wanted to kick off your guitar but you moved and….  _Gas, quick! Take pictures of her, NOW!_  - ordered Danny with his thoughts.

-  _On it._

-  _Oh Internet, this is so going all over you_ \- thinks Danny. -  _Maybe this will overshadow the fact I got beaten today… and it's gonna look great on my personal collection._  And… on the other hand, now you work as a stripper, so… there really isn't to much to be upset about, right? This is what you do now, isn't?

\- Oh, you're so gonna die, boy. - chuckled Spectra.

Ember's expressionless face soon began to change. The rage boiling up on her skin and her eyes glowing red.

\- You… skunky… putresent… dipstick! - shouted sputtering in hot rage. Spectra softly laughs at her insults. - Now listen, my lifestyle might not be the one I wanted my entire life and afterlife - claimed stomping and cracking the roof -, and now I might have to live out of pole dancing naked before a whole crowd of idiots every single night - her voice dripping hot rage as her hair grows in size and heat; the goggles indicating a temperature of 199 C. and growing, - but that doesn't mean I like it! That doesn't mean I enjoy having to rub my back on a pole while jerks like you get wet or a bonner with my tits! That doesn't mean I don't hear what people says about me and my career as musician behind my back, or that I don't feel sad for that every time I go to bed. And more important it doesn't mean I will take a stripper joke out of a dipstick like you! - yelled in a rage and frustration like she had never had before, onslaughting him out of the roof with the largest and most intense of all fires, with tears held in her outereyes.

\- And you! - yelled at Spectra. - You better stop using your fucking pheromones on me! My problems are not for you to feed on! You are supposed to do it with him! - cried out loud.

\- Oh dear, but I already had his. You can't blame me for wanting to mix things up a little bit. Besides, there is so much rage inside, so much frustration. All that teenage angst held within you, growing for years and years… Teenage angst is the best of all miseries, and you… you two are a motherlode of it. Just look how good you're making me look. I almost look like a teenager again - claims Spectra showing how young and good she looks thanks to Ember's misery. - Also, the angrier you get, the stronger your flame is - pointed out Spectra -, so the angrier and sadder I make you, the stronger you get and the stronger, sexier and younger I get.

\- I… I didn't notice that. I… I guess it's true. I do feel my flame stronger when I get angry.

\- See? Everything works just the way we wanted. Besides after that show he made early I don't think is a good idea to make him mad, also he's done something to suppress his physical pain, so I cannot even feed on it.

\- Fine, but you better keep things burning low. Otherwise you are gonna be the one who gets burned - warns Ember, bundling her ragged clothes on her breasts.

\- Oh, we'll see who gets burned, sweetie - said putting her arms on her shoulders, feeding on her misery, making her body glow red and looking like she was 19 again.

\- Ok, I think I know where this is going. And as I always said, you fight fire with ice.

Concentrating as much cold energy in his hands as he can, he freezes the tenement they were standing on with a cold energy wave.

Ember and Spectra's feet get frozen but they quickly melt the ice, and fly away from the building.

Danny unleashes a strong blizzard upon them, a single handed full-blown attack to kill their fire, while using his cold energy shields to deflect their attacks.

"-134 C" reads Danny's right lense. That was the temperature of his snowstorm.

"204 C" reads his left lense. That was the temperature of Ember's fire, when caught inside his storm.

Ember fights him combining her fire with her ghost rays and energy waves. He fights back using his cold energy rays to extinguish her fire and freeze her ghost rays in the air. And focused on his skirmish with Ember, he becomes oblivious of Spectra, until she smites him in the ribs with a kick strong enough to take down a house, and makes him roll eighty feet away from her.

Danny gets back on his feet soon after he realized what happened, with his ribs growing back, confused and wondering how did she become so strong all of a sudden and how Ember's flame is so hot. She couldn't feed on his pain since wasn't able to feel any and Ember had no way to generate extra energy, "…they only have each other he thought". And so, he realized where did they get their boost; Spectra was spoking her fire by making her angrier and more miserable, while boosting herself with that same misery and anger.

\- Is that's how you wanna play, then it's time to fight that hot rage with some cold rage.

Spectra assails him with a huge black flare hurled at him. His instinct tells him to run away from its path, but instead he decides to stand tall, calm, relentless and cold.

His whole body pouring cold energy from everywhere, now reached a temperature lower than ever before: -200 C and lowering as the black acid flame got closer.

Everything around him was beginning to freeze, the ground, the air, everything began to frost.

"User's body temperature: -220 C" indicates his his suit on the corner or his right lense.

"Acid fire attack at 49 feet away. ETA 12 seconds. Preferable tactic: flee." Said his suit on both lenses.

Danny ignores his suit's tactical analysis and suggestions like he did with his instinct, as he already had a plan of his own: burn them with ice.

Creating a giant cold energy fist around his left fist like if it was a glove, he lowers his body temperature even more to -258 C.

"Acid fire attack at 24.5 feet away. ETA 06 seconds. Imminent collision. Preferable tactic: RUN BITCH, RUN!"

"User's body temperature: -287 C" reads his right lense.

_"Ever since I got my ice powers I've wondered 'what are their limits?' 'How much ice can I make?' 'How cold can I be?' Now my powers are broken, and ironically that damage is somewhat_ _… liberating. And even though I need I need a containing suit suit to control my powers, I still feel like this is a chance to finally test my limits, see how far I can get, to see how cold I can be, and for the looks of it I can get to be -327 degree Celsius and lower, which is a lot more cold than I ever was capable of._

_"So the question how cold can I be? I think I can be cold enough to burn them with ice."_


	12. Chapter 11

**WARNING: The following chapter contains enormous amounts of plot induced stupidity, writer self-induced stupidity and many other kinds of stupifity during the first half of it that are meant to be part of the story and taken seriously. Proceed under your own caution and don't say we -the autor and his voices- didn't warn you.**

Chapter Eleven:

The Day That Never Comes, Part 11

Cold Hate vs Hot Rage

00:37 A.M. UTC

Rising his fist, he strikes Spectra's flame freezing it along with the entire street and every building around. Everything was covered in ice, snow and frost as far as the eye could see. Everything was pure white, the snowflakes falling everywhere like winter and the deadly cold air killing Ember and Spectra's fire.

Hustling at Spectra, he grabbed her from behind in a full nelson and spun toward a near wall. Her arms were clenched and her back was arched but he was able to use her own weight against her.

With her nails poped out, she seeks for his face, but he quickly grasps her nails with his right hand. His cold touch numbed her hand so fast, she didn't get to feel the pain until he ripped her frozen claws, straight from her flesh and crashed them like glass before her eyes.

Roaring in pain she hits him in the face repeatedly, with the back of her head. Danny's goggles protected his eyes from the acid flaming hair and the cold energy that running through his body protected the exposed part of his face.

Ember floats sneaking up from behind them, to attack Danny with her own hair, but his ghost scanner warns him about her and the moment she fires her hair at him, he fades away in his mist form.

\- Watch out who you aim your hair at, you little girl! - fumed Spectra after getting struck by the blue fire.

\- Hey, if you could move as fast as you talk you wouldn't get burned.

\- Why don't you try to run in this cold with this stupid blizzard wearing heels?

\- Why don't you both try to run while I'm still giving you a chance - he exclaimed materializing behind them. - Ops, too late - states waving his hands, releasing two cold energy waves onto the floor, trapping Ember and Spectra inside an ice dome with very long and sharp ice shards in the inside.

\- Ok, time to bring the big guns - states Spectra.

\- What do you mean? - inquired Ember.

\- I mean this - retorted stabbing her in the head with her good hand, reaching inside her mind, looking for her worst and most devastating moments.

Unwittingly, Ember started to remember things, things she didn't wanted to talk or think ever again. Things from her afterlife, like the moment when she hit rock bottom, when she realized her long life dream of becoming a rock star would never come true. The pain of her crushed dreams came back more vividly than ever before, and started crushing her heart while Spectra feasted on it, making Ember sadder and angrier, which made both their fire grow.

Spectra digs deeper and deeper until reaching her most painful and miserable memory. A memory so lost that not even Ember herself could recognize it and for a moment she thought it was someone else's life. Images of a blonde girl just like her who dreamed of being a rock star as well, who was at the bottom of the class, a girl who was in love with the most popular guy at school and that one day got her dreamed date with her loved boy, but he never came. And then, images of that same girl tired, screaming scared, in pain… and then everything was hot; they felt hot like they never felt before, and then everything they saw was fire. They saw the girl die, burned alive and alone, and then everything was fire.

Like a sinister dark phoenix, with black and blue flames they burst breaking the ice around them.

\- Wow… how cool is that? - asked young Danny, astonished when he saw the huge flare breaking out of his ice dome, melting everything around. - Uh, right. They're gonna use it to kill me.

Their hair bursting into very large flames, burning and melting everything around them. The heat of Ember's fire was of 246 degree Celsius according to Danny's goggles, and growing excessively fast.

\- Wow… that's… that's pretty hot. Is it weird that I'm getting turn on? Haha, got it? "Turn on".

\- No.

\- You are a computer, what do you know about jokes? What's she doing to Ember?

\- Can't tell. Looks like her hand is inside her head.

\- Well. She always had a thing for getting her hands inside her patients minds. Wait a minute, that's it! She's digging her mind, looking for memories of her, memories that would make her miserable so she can feed on it. Wow, good thing she didn't try that on my.

\- Where was that fast thinking earlier today when you got your ass handed to you? - asked Gas while Danny dodged a huge fire blast coming from Spectra's right hand.

\- It was having an awful me time. And so was I. - answered dodging Spectra's attacks jumping nimbly on the walls. - So focused on my fame and so convinced that I was the best at what I do, that I completely forgot that what I do is not nice and always gets worse, so blinded I didn't see I crippled myself by not letting myself grow thinking I had already reached the top of my game - said squatting on a billboard. - Is it me or her powers are starting to affect me again?

\- Maybe. This ought to do - said Gas creating a holographic carbon-fiber laced bubble face mask that quickly fades from sight. A mask made with a self-cleaning electrostatic precipitation system that allows for full nuclear, biological and chemical filtration that will prevent Danny from breathing Spectra's pheromones in the air.

\- Thanks. The way I see it, it was an awful and unnecessary moment of self-pityness and I've never been up for that. I hate that! - replied jumping behind the billboard to escape Spectra's fire. - You ask me the only personal grow I need is the feeling of my fist breaking when I punch another guy in the face so hard I know he feels worst that I do, but since Technus isn't here, they ought to do by now.

\- And how do you plan on hitting that? Ember's fire is about 371.11111 C, that's…

\- Wow. That's Saturn's temperature. That is like 700 degrees F. I should should now that, I'm an astronaut, which you are not.

\- And you have no idea how much it pains me. It totally keeps me up at night - replied with utmost indifference.

\- Its lowest temperature is -270 degrees F which is like -170 degrees C. And I'm sure as hell I can get get even lower… ok, that… I'm just gonna stop talking.

\- God call.

Flying away from the melted billboard, Danny fires a cold energy ray with a temperature of -370 degree C at Spectra who summons a 37 meters black fire wall to use as a shield.

\- Fascinating - uttered Gas.

\- What? That she could melt my face?

\- No, not that. But her fire. It basically shares the same properties that normal fire or ghost fire and acid but it only burns like the later. - Explained whilst Danny opened his body to let pass a stream of Spectra's and Ember's fire combined. - And for the record, the suit is acid proof, in case you didn't notice.

\- Oh really? Oh, then I'm so totally letting them hit me. - Replied sarcastically, with his head tilted.

\- Tell me do you have any idea how acid works?

\- I'm a "C" straight student, what do you think? - asked crouched on the barely frozen ground, throwing a cold energy wave at them. - The only thing I know about acid is that citric acid and my grades are just the same, full of C's.

\- Ok I'll try to explain you: Bronsted Acids are proton donors - said while Danny created a cold energy shield to deflect both their fire and energy blasts -. Lewis acids accept electron pairs - retorted while he raised a large ice wall and hurled it at Ember's firewall also hurled at him.

The ice wall and the blue fire wall crash, made an spectacular display of chaos and beauty with blue sparks of fire and glowing ice splinters falling from the sky.

\- And arrhenius acids increase H3O+ concentrations in water. The strength of an acid is defined by how easily it gives up the proton; the strength of a base is determined by how avidly it binds the proton. Are you getting this?

Danny mulls in silence for a few seconds and then responds:

\- I'm a C straight student who got expelled from chemistry class for dropping everything made out of glass, what do you think?

\- All right, I'll make it super simple to you; there's a bunch of h+ (or something similar) in an acid. It'll find some oh- (or something similar) in a protein and steal it. Then, like taking a card out of a cardhouse, it falls apart. Acids cause tissue damage by denaturing proteins and some acid-base reactions are exothermic so that explains why acid "burns" feel hot.

\- Ok, I'm kinda getting some of that crap you're telling me, "Professor Proffesserson", but I really don't have the time for it or to find or create an anti-acid or whatever - said jumping and swinging while throwing another cold energy wave -. So tell me, if I knock her out cold it will turn it off?

\- Well, if you want the caveman, brute savage solution, yes.

\- That's all I needed to hear.

Danny pops out his claws creating larger ice claws covering them, and claws the snow reaching into ground. Before Spectra could throw another fire attack, he creates a giant snow hand with sharp ice claws rising from the underground that grows bigger and bigger. Tightening his grasp on the ground, he turns the snow into ice and traps her in the giant ice hand.

\- How 'bout that? See? That's what I meant when I said "knock her out cold".

\- What? How-How did you know that was going to work?

\- Simple. You said her fire shares the same properties than normal and ghostly fire, right? Well in my book it translate as "it can be turn off with ice". Luckily I was right, what a Mary Hail I pulled out there, eh?

\- How are you even sure that's gong to hold her?

\- Because there is nothing stronger than my hate for her, a big cold hate.

In that moment Ember pounces him with a fire ball thrown at his face.

Her eyes were completely red, and red was all she could see. Her mind was consumed by a burning rage like no other. Danny knew that feeling pretty well, he put himself through that to fight them, but now she was on the other side, and her rage was greater than he thought.

"Ghostly fire burning at 1063 degree Celsius" said indicated his suit on his left lense.

Danny jumps sky high, with his body temperature at -500 C, and unleashes a deadly snowstorm upon her.

\- And what are you going to do with this?

\- I'm gonna use my environment on my behalf.

Landing on the snow, he started moving his hands, manipulating the snow around him, attacking Ember with it while dodging her assaults with graceful movements, swinging and jumping on the snow. His movements were so nimble and his attacks so precise it seemed as if the snow was a part of him, an extension of his body.

Hurling a snow wave at her, he grasp her left arm, and solidifies the snow turning it into ice so hard and cold she couldn't break it or melt it. Quickly she realizes her feet were also frozen and when raising her right hand with flaming axe to break the ice, he grasp it with a snow tentacle and turns it into ice again, completely restraining her movements.

Growling and glowering at him, she assails with her pony tail, unleashing the greatest flare he has ever seen, and melting the ice in her hands.

Quickly he summons an ice wall between him and the flame, but the fire breaks through hitting Danny in the face. The blow leaves him dazed for a second, but he quickly shakes it off and gets back on his feet, jumping at her but she hits him in the stomach with all her strength using her guitar. With her right fist smoldering in pink ghost energy, she punches him in the face so hard he feels his wisdom teeth breaking loose, but mostly breaking. She bludgeons him in the face with her axe-guitar; he feels his the unmistakable crunch of nose cartilage shattering to pieces and again that brain stinging tingling of it regenerating as soon as it breaks.

Danny falls on his knees, angry and hating her more than before, glaring at her with his lenses slanted and an intense blue glow. He blows and slays her flaming body with his claws, freezing her body from the inside, but the ice of the wounds quickly melt and she heals.

Once again she attacks him with her flaming ponytail, with a flame even bigger and hotter than before -1508 C according to Danny's suit-.

He takes the attack getting only first degree burns on the exposed parts of his face. His cold energy emanated through his body, and his thick ghost skin, combined with his blocked neuron pain receptors allowed him to withstand the attack, but Ember wouldn't let him pass through. Using her hands, she fires two blue streaming flames with a pink ghost ray spiraling on each one, pushing him back, bringing him into his knees.

"Warning: Ghostly fire attack at 2000 C" said all over his lenses.

In that moment, Danny calls for all of his cold energy to fight her back, pushing her attack with a streaming cold energy blast fired from both hands.

"User's body temperature at -675 C" said the computer built in on he suit.

-  _I have to be colder_  - thought Danny, harnessing as much cold as he could. Getting blue by the first time ever since he got his powers.

"User's body temperature at -775 C."

\- Danny, I don't know how cold can you bear, but I think this can by dangerous for you. You may be reaching your limits - said Gas.

\- Shut up! If this is about limits, I'm gonna break them through and freeze this bitch! - shouted while struggling to get on his feet. - I'm gonna break my limits, and then I'm gonna break her in half, and then I'm gonna break Technus in less than a half - yelled sputtering only cold hate, hate for Ember, for Technus, for all of his enemies.

"User's body temperature at -985 C."

Danny's skin, turns even more blue, and his hair began to grow ice spikes while his whole body was shivering, but it wasn't enough for Danny. He wanted to lower his temperature even more. He had to lower his temperature even more.

"User's body temperature at -1500 C."

His hair and skin completely frosted, his lenses damped, his suit suggesting -almost begging- him to stop for his own good, but he didn't mind, because deep down he knew what he was. He knew he had to keep pushing just a little bit lower…

"User's body temperature at -1850 C."

and lower…

"User's body temperature at -1950 C."

and lower…

"User's body temperature at -2000 C."

Until he finally got it.

Finally getting the power he needed to overcome Ember's fire and getting back on his feet, firing the most powerful cold energy blast he has ever fired dazzling her for a second.

And when she opened her eyes, she couldn't believe what she saw. Danny's body was completely turned into ice. By pushing his ice powers to the limit, he had reached a whole new level, and now his hair, his ghost skin, his ghost flesh, his entire body was now made entirely out of organic ice, except for his bones which could be seen through his translucent icy flesh, though only the exposed part of his face would demonstrate such trait, since his suit was now made out of ice as well, only though this wasn't see through.

\- You are made out of ice now?

\- Yeah, baby - he grinned with a wide creepy-looking smile given to his visible jawbone and his sharp canine teeth.

\- Then you just made things easier for me - said smiting him with a full blast of her pony tail, but her fire was nothing for him now.

Fighting back only with a blizzard, not even a full cold energy blast, he turns off her fire with not problem.

\- You should have never left school - said knocking her out with a single punch.

\- Impressive child, impressive. You are most impressive indeed - claimed Technus from behind, giving him a slow clapping.

\- You!

Danny bustled at him with his hand turned into a large ice claw, pouncing him in the face, gashing his skin.

\- What are you? - Asked Danny when he saw a black metal piece beneath his skin.

\- Maybe I should… But perhaps is better if I save that for another day, that if there is another day for you.

Technus covered his wound generating a green light with his right hand, healing his face.

\- You know, I said I was going yell my plans anymore, but I feel like doing it one last time, just for the good old days.

\- It was about time, 'cuz I'm not the only one who doesn't understand what's going here.

\- An hour ago, at exactly zero hours I set up a device, a ghost bomb or G-bomb, that was set to explode exactly within the hour, since that's what takes for it to charge given to the immensity of its size and its destructive capacity which can blow half this city, and when it does, it will release a huge cloud of my ghost-converter nano-bots, that will turn this entire city into my own ghost city! Or at least it will be until the power grows too much for those weak and rotten human bodies, reducing those miserable stepping stones in my path for the perfect ghost-hybrid army into carcasses.

\- I am so going to break YOUR "!*#/ ASS IN HALF! - Yelled, sputtering in rage.

\- Oh my, who knew you'd know such words? But tell me, do you really think you can give yourself the luxury of fighting against me when so little time to take care of the bomb - said showing his G-bomb right behind Danny.

\- This isn't over. Not even close - said bustling at the bomb.

\- Of course is not. Wouldn't expect less of you. And of course, you wouldn't expect me to make it that easy to you, right? - claimed grabbing his ghost tail, and slamming him on the ground. So hard, Danny's returns to his normal ghost form.

\- Let me GO! - shouted smiting him in the face with an intense bright blue ghost ray.

Technus falls steaming, with his face scorched.

\- Can you feel it child? This is it. This is your limit. You've lost, you lost a long time ago and you don't even know it.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

The Day That Never Comes, Part 12

The Hour after Midnight.

01:00 AM UTC

_"This was his plan all along. The reason he made me fight them like_ _… a gauntlet, one after another… It wasn't to kill me, at least not this second round. No, it was a diversion… an excessively complicated and elaborated distraction so he could set up his bomb, a complete waste of energy, my energy! So that way, by the moment he shows his actual plan, the moment he shows me his bomb, I would be too tired to do anything to stop it._

_"And sometimes when you grow tired, you feel weak, and when you feel weak you feel that you wanna just give. But you gotta search that thing in you, you gotta find that inner strength that pulls that shit out of you, and get that motivation to not give up and not get quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall_ _… no matter if you feel like you are out of breath, that earth is dragging you down.… You gotta keep going up, higher and higher every time, until you reached past the limits…_ _"_

Those were Danny's last thoughts, in his last moments of consciousness before passing out, he thinks of the only thing that makes push himself over his limits, the only thing that motivates him to go beyond any danger even if it means the death of himself… the love for his family and friends.

It is for them he will never fall, it is for them he will stand tall and strong, because in his heart he know nothing could ever be worse than losing them…

00:55 AM UTC

\- See that, child? That is the time you got left. No more than five minutes. So you get to choose whether you fight me, or you get rid of the bomb. But chose carefully, if fight me the bomb shall raze your city and if you chose the bomb I'll be gone before you notice, and not even with your clones you'd be able to do both, so what is it gonna be kid? Me or the bomb?

T-minus 05:00

\- Danny, this bomb has enough power to blow at least half the city, it's basically a ghost nuclear bomb. You have to get rid of it now.

\- Analysis…

\- What?

\- Give me a damn analysis! I wanna know everything about this bomb! How does it work. How to unplug it! EVERYTHING!

T-minus 04:57

\- There: The bomb is 137 Feet height. 150 Tons weight. - Says Gas showing the scan with the analysis on the bomb, on Danny's lenses. - It's controlled by two built in computers. I'm trying to override it but the main computer has a ten thousand codex, it'd take me an hour. And there are no cables to cut.

T-minus 04:49

\- Then I'm gonna take out it of here. Take it to space.

\- Take it to space? Oh, you are gutsy Fenton. Gutsy, gutsy Fenton - said Technus with derision.

Danny smites him with a white energy wave.

T-minus 04:42

\- Danny, that's way over you class weight. Not even with me on. You-

\- Then give me the extra energy!

\- What?!

\- You said that can grant me access to more of that extra energy my core is spitting out whenever I needed, right? Well guess what? I fucking needed it now!

\- Rerouting excedent ghost core energy through the user's body. Energy levels: 35 % out of 100%.

With his body empowered by the excedent energy his ghost core is expelling, Danny losses any feeling of tiredness.

\- Good luck, boy. You are gonna need it to pass through that impenetrable dome.

His body was glowing green, irradiating ghost energy, feeling stronger than before. Strong enough to lift the bomb and fly away with it.

\- Danny how are you going to pass though the shield? It is phasing proof and you don't have time to break it.

\- I bet is not teleporting proof - said getting closer to the ghost dome.

\- You sure about that?

\- I'm not sure about anything I do, but most of the time they work for the best. I just gotta hope this does.

Using his teleportation Danny manages to get out of the dome, appearing 50 Kms in the air.

\- Hey, it worked! Yes! Yes! My brain is better everyone else's! Now let's get this thing out of here to where it can't hurt anybody.

T-minus 03:35

Pushing himself further and further, he flies through each layer of the atmosphere, calling for more energy, reaching a 40% of his full power.

T-minus 02:19

Calling for even more energy, his eyes turn completely green, and his hair slowly began to ablaze as he gets to a 50%. His disk-backpack grows, taking a jetpack shape to project his extra energy in order to fly even faster while his cowl mask shapes into a cowl mask-helmet with white locking bolts on each side, and little rectangular flat white lenses, with the holographic bubble face mask as soon as he gets into the thermosphere, allowing him to breathe.

T-minus 01:36

\- Danny you should drop it now. We're already far away from the city.

\- No! If this thing explodes inside the earth atmosphere, the nanobots could spread through the air like a virus and it would be worse, it could affect any other city. Besides, we're only a 10 Kms away from the exophere.

Missing only thirty second for the bomb to explode, Danny finally gets out of the earth atmosphere.

The absolute lack of gravity makes the bomb float away from him

\- Ha-ha! I did it! I did it! I'm the greatest hero on earth!… Well, it would be if I was on earth, but you know what I mean.

\- Yes. Now don't get cocky, boss. Remember what happened last time yo-

In that moment, the bomb explodes with the intensity of a nuclear bomb, and the energy released by the bomb knocks out Danny. Fortunately, his suit and his enhanced level of energy protected him from any serious damage.

01:01 AM UTC

"Suit Systems Status: Rebooted and Online. User Status: Stuporous. Initiating User Wake up Protocol."

Danny's nervous system gets shocked by a 500 Jules discharged used by the suit to wake him up from his stupor.

\- God-damn it Gas! Why did you do that? - yelled angered with his hair still blazing.

\- You where in stupor. That means-

\- I know what that means. I actually pay attention to health class, you know?

\- And still you are a C straight student.

\- Very funny. Now let's go back to earth. I promised Technus I was going to break his ass and that's what I'm gonna do. And now I just realize how wrong that came out.

At full pelt, Danny flies back inside the earth atmosphere, unharmed by the heat generated by the reentering the atmosphere.

When getting back in the city, he unveils his mechanical spider legs and his shoe-blades, sticking them in the ground to generate more traction in his landing.

"Rerouting Ecto-Energy back to the ghost core. Ecto-Energy levels in the user's body back to Gauges Level."

\- Wow, that was cool. I saved the city from a nuclear G-bomb, I went to outer space and came back, all in less than ten minutes! I love this new suit.

\- Your suit is certainly fascinating - said Technus behind him.

\- You! I see you were stupid enough to stay here when you could have run like the coward you are. I guess that you are gonna have it by me, and again that came out wrong. I'm gonna fucking beat you up!

\- That new suit of your. It is made of an organic technology much more sophisticated than mine. So advanced I can't control t for all the organic in it yet it is still technology, living technology. I wish I could dissect it. But that is not what I'm here for.

\- Don't care! - said firing a white streaming plasma ray.

Technus avoids the attack with ease and holds Danny with his new telekinesis.

\- You should care about why I'm still here. There is something I learned from all my years as a villain: the key to success is redundancy.

In that moment a second bomb explodes in the other side of the city.

\- No - said Danny flabbergasted, with his face deadpan.

\- There you have it. A second bomb hidden all the other side to the city, in case the first one wouldn't make it. A real twist isn't? Now good luck hunting down my ghosts, and don't bitten - said laughing as hard as he can, while teleporting back to the ghost zone.

Danny falls on his knees, devastated, staring in awe at the huge blue mushroom cloud forming on the other side of the city, thinking of all those people he couldn't save and who got turned into ghost-zombies.

The next day, 03:24 PM UTC

\- Mom I swear I'm ok, I was far away from the bomb, and the fight in pier… I know it seemed like I had a rough time, but when I came back for the second round, I beat their ass quite easily. - said Danny to his mom on the phone.

\- Oh, but sweetie, the city is a wreckage now, and Jazz, your sister said you needed surgery.

\- She was exaggerating. I could have healed from that on my own. But she beefed on the doctors to do it anyway. Look if it makes you feel any better, you can come back here as soon as you can. Now that the ghost dome is gone...

\- Sweetie, are you sure you are ok? Isn't there anything you want to tell us?

\- Well, my old suit was destroyed so had to get a new jumpsuit. Much cooler than my old jumpsuit.

\- Is that it?

\- Oh, and now I have a mask like you, but opened at the top so my hair can stay out. Look I gotta go, I said Tucker I'll help to rebuild the city and I'm running late. I love you, bye.

\- You lied to them - said Jazz glowering at her littler brother.

\- Yeah well, what did you want me to tell them: "Yes mom, I almost died in a fight, then I lost control of my powers and I had to get a major surgery". Is that what you want me to tell them?

\- No, but-

\- Do you think I like lying to them? No, I don't, but if I tell them the truth they will be as worried as you we're in the hospital or even more. And I don't want to do that, I don't want to make mom and dad feel like that, not now not ever!

\- So think is better lying to them through your teeth?

\- Yes I did. I do that, but I did it because I love them. And yes you can tell them the truth if you want, but keep in mind that that'll only cause them more pain. Is that what you want?

\- No, I-I'm just worried about you Danny. You-

\- You don't have to worry about me. As I said, I'm fine. Now if you excuse me, I have a city to rebuild.

Danny said goodbye to his sister with a kiss in her chick and a huge hug, and flied away from their house in his human form, convinced he was doing the right thing by not telling his parents what truly happened.

\- Oh Danny, you're so not fine. If you could only see things my way - said Jazz with deep sorrow as soon as he leaves the house.

Epilogue 1: What came from the outer space

The day after the bomb.

G.I.W. Headquarters. Amity Park.

03:30 PM UTC

\- We've managed to scout the affected area with some operatives sent from D.C. in replacement for the lost agents during the battle with the Fright Knight and the operatives turned into ghost zombies by Technus and his crew - explained K to Danny who was in his ghost clothes, when walking on their cellblock.

\- We also managed to capture some of those… I don't even know how to call them - said J -, specimen…

\- Ghozbies.

\- What?

\- Ghozbies. That's what I call them, cause they're half ghost and half zombies, ghozbies.

\- Right… Well, we've managed to capture most of those… ghozbies during the clearance of the area, as you can see there are in our second most powerful containment cells. Our scientist are currently running some tests, trying to figure out how and why they're like that, and looking for a way to bring them back to normal…

\- And?

\- Nada - said J -. They only thing we got so far is that they were turn into this monsters by-

\- Nanobots, phased straight into their bloodstream, pumping ghost energy into every cell of their bodies.

\- Correct, how did you-? Never mind. We've tried several methods to turn them human again. We tried shutting down the nanobots with EMPs, nothing. We tried separated them from their ghost half, nothing, even worse, those who were separated remained as zombies. Some others just wouldn't make it, the energy would reduce them into goo or carcasses, or both.

\- Eventually we stopped trying since it seemed futile, and focused all our time and energy into capture the remaining ghozbies of there are before they bite some else.

\- Wait, does it mean…?

\- That their bite is like a zombie bite? Yes, your bitten, your one of them. - Explained K.

\- Ok, good to know that, but again, why am I here?

J and K glare at each other.

\- For this. - Said K opening the gate to the lowest cellblock, where they locked the worst and most dangerous captives.

\- An empty broken cell? - asked Danny.

\- Exactly. This empty broken cell should be anything but empty and broken - pointed K.

\- This cell is our most secure cell. Nothing can get in or out, neither human or ghost, unless they have granted access, something only our highest officers have.

\- Except for powder and dust - said looking at the floor, squaring to take a better look and touch it.

\- This isn't powder. It's sand - said Gas, zooming in the sand to the microscopic level. - More like ghost sand.

\- Ok, what am I looking at here other than sand.

\- Three months after the asteroid thing, we scout all over the earth in search for the ectoranium meteors that felt on earth following the asteroid. During those three moths we found nothing but killing ghost green rocks scattered all over the world, until a search group heard stories of a life energy sucking ghost haunting a little town in Malaysia. What they found, according to their report… was the most horrific thing in the world. Far worse than their worst nightmares.

\- They couldn't describe what they saw. Mostly because none of them would live long enough for it. No one who came across would survive. They only thing left was a dry and whitered shell and the very, very few who survived were to scared and traumatized to describe it. They would only talk nonsense about a vampire shadow or something.

\- Yeah right, a vampire, like those things - are real - laughed his partner.

\- Eventually, we sent our elite forces, they fought it and hard, but it took another three months and around six hundred operatives to capture it. And then it was imprisoned in the most impenetrable cell we had, which was right here and no one but our superiors would know what it was.

\- But apparently, that ghost Technus knew about it, and moved an really complicated operation to extract it.

\- And penetrated your impenetrable cell. When did this happen?

\- During the attack. We believe your fight with them in the pier and the Fright Knight assault on the city was nothing but a massive diversion to call our attention and lure us out leaving this place empty so one of his allies could break in and take it out.

\- Wait. You are saying… that I almost died, that my ghost core got broken and that I had to pull a giant bomb out of the planet just because you had a live sucking ghost in the city?!

\- That's one way to put it - said J nervous.

\- It is the only way to put it! - yelled Danny - You not only jeopardized the city by bringing that thing here, but you also forced his hand to destroy the city to get his new asset, you also caused him to destroy the only line of defense it had in times of war.

\- What?

\- But then again, what can I expect from the government. You're lucky that line is now being rebuilt and stronger than before.

\- I don't think I'm…

\- Why are you telling me this any way?

\- We believed that he pretends to use that ghost in an full out war attack on us.

\- And based on what we saw, it is most likely that. So we thought you might want the heads up.

\- Thanks. Now if you excuse me, I have an anniversary date to plan and with almost every restaurant wrecked I have a lot of work to do to get a good place - said teleporting himself out of there.

\- You lied to him.

\- Lying for omission isn't really lying. Is just… omission. Omission of information that he isn't supposed to know. Not that we know it anyway.

\- Good point. By now...

Meanwhile on the ground zero.

\- Ok, what's the word Gas?

\- Just a shorter version of my name.

\- …sure it is. I mean what the word on their words. What did you get from their computer when we where there?

\- Two things, one: the government has the worst security system ever! And two: the only information they had in their computer about their… prisoner is that it came from the outer space. You know what that means, right?

\- I sure do, it means it's an… alien! - said Danny very exalted, laughing and making the same hand gesture than Giorgo Toskolo. - But seriously, what do you think? - asked when he stopped laughing.

\- I don't know… I don't know…

\- Did you have to make a dramatic pause?

\- I don't know… I don't know…

Epilogue 2: The Ghastly, The Bad and The Ugly.

\- If there is something I've learned from all my years as a businessman is that the key to success… is redundancy - said Vlad Plasmius, floating inside his containing chamber, filled with stabilizing ecto-goo, created by the G.I.W. in order for him to maintain his ghost form. - Now Technus, would you be a dear and turn on the lights? I've spent way too much time in the shadows.

\- Of course my friend.

\- Oh, that's so much better! So since I'm now in your lab, I must assume our little skim has played out just well, right?

\- There were some… deviants from our original plan, but overall, everything played just as we planned.

\- And to whom do I owe my liberation, if I must know?

\- The name is Hotep-Ra - he said. - You are welcome.

\- He is the one who infiltrated the Guys in White H.Q. during the assault, through the ventilation system in his sand form, which is undetectable to their radars, and the one who set you free from your prison - explained Technus.

\- So that was the plan all along. -asked Skulker among his beaten partners.

\- Part of it, sure why not? - said Vlad.

\- And just to be clear, why is he still swimming in that chamber? - asked Spectra.

\- Oh Spectra, my dear. If you only knew… See, after that giant ecto-ranium asteroid phased through earth, I was crashed by meteor that follow it. During the crash I lost my human side. The radiation separated my ghostly part from my human part, and when it came to earth, it sadly… passed out. Then I was left in Malaysia weak, near death, to the edge of oblivion, unable to sustain my form. But with every closed door, there is new window, a new window of ghost powers. See, the separation cost me my humanity, but in exchange the lack of real body, somehow gave new abilities, powers I could have never dream of. Powers that helped me to maintain my ghostly form.

\- And what is that power?

\- The ability to absorb life energy. Oh, but my disgrace is nothing but endless… where as I gained a new power like other, I also became… dependent, like a parasite. You see the life energy I consume to maintain my ghostly form, the more it weakens, and the more I'll have to absorb, that unless of course I get a new human body, a host to exist in and feed on.

\- Don't worry buddy, we'll take care of it. I have-

\- I'm fully aware of what you got here, our telepathic conversations were not just the product of leisure. And I need a better host, a body much stronger than those people you kidnap for your little experiments and with more influence. And I just have someone in mind.

Elmerton, Old Warehouse.

11:56 AM UTC

\- …for years, we've pulled out with this kid, and all the ghost he lures into our beautiful city, and in time we came to live with it knowing he would be there to "protect us", oblivious to the fact that it is because of him, that we are haunted, it is because of his presence in our beautiful city, that we have ghost floating on the streets every night, ghost that come here only to fight him, to hunt him down, and who ends paying the price? That's right, us! The humans who live in Amity Park, we are the ones who suffer, we suffer for his fights, we see our city destroyed in every one of their clashes every single day. We lose our house, we lose our jobs. That is the cost of him leaving among the humans, and even though at some point it was tolerable, this… this is the last straw. Now because of him, half of our beautiful was ravished by a storm of monsters and the other half destroyed by a nuclear ghost bomb, and to make things worst, the people got caught in the explosion wouldn't even die quickly and rest in piece, no. They were turned into monsters… aberrations, half ghost and half zombies. And now we not only have to watch our backs for ghost, but for ghost-zombies! So now I ask you when will this end? How much are we going to pay for the presence of Danny Phantom? This is Lance Thunder, talking to anyone who listens to public radio at midnight - said turning off his microphone. - This is what is what I've been reduced to? From the very good looking weather guy on tv to a guy who yells on a radio station that no one listens to? - asked with a lower tone - This is all your fault Danny Phantom, you cost me my job and now I'll make sure you pay with everything you have! I don't care if I have to sell my soul to the devil.

\- That sounds delightful. - said Plasmius, his voice ethereal. - But if you really want to make him suffer you'll need to do more than yelling at a microphone at night - said pouring himself through the walls, the floor above, and the ventilation system like a black goo and smoke, and forming his ghostly body in his shadow-looking form, making a small tornado in the basement where Lance lived now, and making a huge disarray. - And in that, I consider myself-self quite an expert. Well just one self now.

\- Yo-you are Vla-Vla-Vlad Master…! - stuttered in shock and fear.

 

\- The devil you know. And actually is Plasmius now, just Vlad Plasmius. Here to serve you, well sort of. I've been listening to you little radio communication for months now, during my days in prison and I think you are the ally to carry on my plans, thus I proposes you: give your body and ill give everything you need to make his life a living hell. Oh, and keep in mind that whether you say yes or no, I'm still taking our body. So what do you say?

\- … I say… yes!

With a wide smile, Vlad becomes a black and red smoking stream of goo and pours himself through Lance's mouth taking full possession of his body.

\- Now, let's get business started. - said with a huge grin, twitching his head and his suit. - First order of the day: bring misery to Danny Phantom's life.

Epilogue 3: Starting anew.

It's been a week ever since the bomb, and things have been changing back to normal pretty fast, faster than expected. The city is being rebuild again, faster than ever and much stronger, all thanks to an anonymous server of providence who provided us with everything we needed in this days of misery to rebuild our city and our lives. That man being Mr. M, something only I know. He appears to be good, he claims to be good, and since now I'm crutched to this suit he made for me, I just gotta hope he is one of the good guys.

But now, now i don't have time for that, because now I float around the earth. Now my mind is far away from that, from all that chaos, that ruckus life in Amity Park has become, because now, I'm with the woman I love, the only person I love more than anything or anyone. And today, we celebrate our anniversary, something I felt I needed. Because after all that has happened, I felt that I needed this, a moment of calm, silence and happiness. I needed a break from being super, and being just awesome me.

\- I still can't believe it. How did you managed to pull all this out? A dinner in outer space? In a ISS satellite? - she asked stunned for my anniversary surprise, something I planned long ago.

\- What can I say? I'm half awesome.

\- No, you are completely awesome. Uh, not that I don't appreciate it but, why are dining away from earth?

\- Because I now how much you like darkness, and in this crystal ball-like satellite, we can eat surrounded by all the darkness of the universe. As long as the artificial gravity works, otherwise we would make a mess and I don't wanna clean up after dinner.

\- Oh, I soooo love it.

\- I know you do - I said griming at her. - Besides, after everything that's happens, being away from earth is the best for us.

\- That aside, this awesome Danny. To be honest I thought you may forget it again, and try to make it up with a lousy gothic teddy bear like you did last year, but this is... wow.

Sam speechless. That alone is something more impossible than taking a 150 tons bomb out of earth and, a sign of how great I am.

After our dinner, we stared at the cosmos, cuddling; we watched the sunrise from above; we glanced the darkness in which the stars float. Everything was magnificent, but the best part was just being with her, just the two us together, alone in the universe.

\- You never told me how you did it. How did you get a "reservation" for this.

\- Let's just say I have good friends in the NASA.

\- You overshadowed them, didn't you?

\- Some of them - I said kissing her chick, hugging her from behind.

\- Have you thought what are you going to do when we go back?

\- I though of not doing it at all. I thought of staying here, with you. Only the two of us, alone in the dark, with no one to bother us.

\- Sounds good, like a perfect way to spend our days. But we have to go back at some point. What are you going to do about the whole Technus thing then?

\- Let's not think about that. Let's focus on the now, because now, now it's a new beginning, and I want to share this moment with you - I said while we saw the sun rise in what I think is Japan.

\- Ok Mr. Bombastic - she said giggling, and kissing me back...

The sun goes up, the starts float still over, and after that day I keow that my universe is not going to be the same anymore. That's why I'm glad we get to spend this lottle moments, just she and I. Becuase only that counts.

Epilogue 4: Fight the future.

Amity Park, 7 Years later.

A 24 years old Danny wakls on the streets of Amity Park, now known as New Amity Park.

The city he walks in, was completelty different from the one he grew up in. No only buildings changed, but people as well and Dannt himself was not behind. His change was more than just a new ghost suit: a black trench coat with white lapels, over a more stylized black and white jumpsuit with glowing green bulbs on his belt and gloves. No, his change was more than just that.

After everything he lived over the last seven years, Danny grew up to be a man, way diferent from the man he tought he would be. He was now, not only the savior of one or two worlds, but savior of a multiverse.

And today, he walks down the streets, passing by next to a sing of him and Technus shaking hands with the words "Two species working together for one better world", to see the man he could have been. That man, who is now locked down in the Guys In Black's Maximun Security Prison.

\- Say, it was about time you came to visit. You pay more respect to your elders - sneered Dan, sitting, shacled with blue ectoranium, on a metal shair.

\- I came here because you wanted to see me.

\- No, you came because you wanted to see yourself. You came because  _you_ wanted iit.

\- What do you want? - he asked after taking a deep breathe.

\- I just wanted to see how I was doing. How is the family doing, you know now that I didn't kill them - he asks twitching his head.

\- They're fine.

\- And what about us?

\- There is no us.

\- You are right, that's more of a simbyote thing. How am I doing outside this walls.

\- You are locked down, for good. That's how  _you_ are doing.

\- All right, if you want to play that game... How are  _you_  doing, oh great president of the world? Oh great face of human and ghost race - he asks with derision.

\- I'm annoyed. Thanks to you.

\- How is your little pseudo dictatorship going? And I use the word pseudo loosely.

\- I don't know what are you talking about.

\- Yes, you do. I mean come on, you got cameras everywhere. There is no part of the world that you don't have bugged.

\- That is for the world's safe.

\- Yeah, yeah. Not the first dictator who uses social security as an excuse.

\- Is not an excuse. People choosed me to be their leader.

\- When no other fool would take the place.

\- I made this world a better place. That is much more than we can say about you, you murderous scum. - he said with loathe in his voice and hearth.

\- How? By allying with Technus during the Age of Clusters?

\- He is a different man from who he was. He wants the best form both ghost and humans.

\- And you believe him? After everything that's happened?

\- Yes, because even he is more human than you.

Dan laughs effusively at his words.

\- Do you really believe that? Do you really believe people can change?

\- I do.

\- Does it mean that there is still hope for me?

Danny mulls into that for a few seconds.

\- I wish there was.

\- Ok, then answer me this last question, with all the honesty in your hybrid hearth. After everything that's happened, and I mean everything not just the Cluster's Age, the Technus War, the days of invasion and the ghozbie apocalypse, but after everything you and our family have been through, don't you wish you would have never changed our past? Haven't you thought that things would have been better if you would had turn into me?

For anyone the answer to that question would be a big no, but Danny looks in his hearth for an answer, a real answer that would please him and himself. And what he sees is the only ruth he can't deny. The only truth that feels reals and not a lie instead.

\- Sometimes... I do - he said prone.

Danny answers his question honesty as well as great sorrow and grief.

Dan instead, smiles and grins at him.

\- Of course you do. Look at you. You lie to yourself, you became worst than I and you won't see it.

\- Shut up! I have saved universes! Not just this universe but plenty of more others!

\- Well, me on the other hand. I'm glad you changed our past, otherwise I would have never had a second chance in life. A second chance with Sam. And boy, we took that second chance together, we really did - Dan said with a big smile on his face.

The moment he hears those words Danny bursts in blind rage, and starts beating his helpless old self, sputtering in rage. He punches him with all his strength looking to kill him, even though he knows he can't.

The prison guards pulled him out of the room against his will. It took over fifty men to get him out.

\- I knew it. I knew this little reunion wasn't going to end well. I knew it wasn't going to end we'll!l - said a poor and beaten Clockwork, in his old man form, who at this point in his life had lost any ounce of sanity and would only sputter incoherences, floating in his ectoranium cell.

Danny leaves the prison he built himself to lock the worst ghosts ever, full of rage, repeating to himself: "I knew it, I knew it... I knew it wasn't going to end well."


End file.
